


How to Get What you Work For

by chibimaker21



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, I've actually been planning out this story for like years now, I've been writing it for a while, and I figured 'what the hell i'm gonna post this shit', hope you like it, i hope it works out, it's pretty much just a self insert fanfiction, so i'll take the good and the bad and all that shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2018-07-12 22:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 130,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7126603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibimaker21/pseuds/chibimaker21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Through a series of unwanted events, Amelia finds herself with a girl she doesn't like who obsesses over anime who tries to attempt alchemy from one of her favorite shows. Unfortunately, it succeeds, and she finds herself on military property and about to go to prison for trespassing, until the Fuehrer offers her a chance: She gets a one-year trial period learning under a certified alchemist and if she passes, she gets a get-out-of-jail-free card. Now if she could only find someone to teach her…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Unexpected Reaction

**_"Some of us, for better or worse, develop very stable, consistent,_ **   
**_and largely predictable machineries of self. But in others, the_ **   
**_self machinery is more flexible and more open to unexpected turns."_ **

**\- Antonio Damasio**

* * *

Amelia Seymore was by no means an average child. This doesn’t mean she had any special talents or anything of the sort. No, in that respect, she was pretty ordinary. She wasn’t average because her family had millions of dollars in savings for personal use. This was because her family invested their money into a now international chain of hotels over 50 years ago. As the company grew, so did their stocks. Her family still invests, and has plenty of money lying around for everyone to use as they please. Her family had never been to any of their hotels, though.

She had many people who loved to come over, as her parents were frequent party throwers. She knew many of them by name, but she didn’t consider any of them to be her friends. She didn’t consider friendship to be a valid form of relationships among adults. She thought it was something that was taken advantage of, so people could move higher in the world. Her parents did it all the time, with big business CEOs and local celebrities. As they formed those ties, they moved up higher in the world, but Amelia was certain her parents couldn’t have cared less about them. Her mother had dreamed of fame since before she was born. When she became pregnant, her mother used her connections to get an interview with a local journalist, so they could write about her baby. After Amelia was born, the article hit the papers, and her mother had her fifteen minutes of fame. She adored the attention she got when Amelia was an infant. But once she got older, and the “new baby” hype had passed, things were as calm as they were before. After that Amelia was put into the care of a nanny.

Amelia never attended preschool, or any school for that matter. Many educational institutions wanted the tuition from her rich parents. Her mother loved having the school representatives come by every year, trying to bribe her with gifts for Amelia, and for herself, so she would attend their schools. Her mother refused, though. She only hired private tutors for her, saying that home was a much better environment to learn than a cold school building. Eventually the representatives stopped coming, and her mother went back to her own means of gaining fame. Amelia had private tutors, many in her home, and some among groups of others her age. Some tried to make friends with her, but she refused to let them. She didn’t want to have people stepping over her to get to her parents, just as her parents had done to those they sought out so they could get to a higher target. She found the best way to do this was to ignore someone. She would often hear people call her “snob” for snubbing them off, but she didn’t care. She had too much self-respect to let someone move over her to get to their goals. She wouldn’t be someone’s stepping stone, she would be their roadblock.

The only person who would persist in speaking to her was a piano student named Kate that she shared a class with at a small private institution, and Amelia was certain that she would stop at some point. After all, who wants a snob for a friend?

* * *

“It looks a little complicated.”

“Yeah, but don’t you think it looks good?”

“Well, yeah, but…Wait… this isn’t another Japanese song, is it?”

“Um… maybe?”

“Oh, Kate, for God’s sake…” Amelia sighed as she looked at the sheet music. “I should have known from the title…”

Amelia Seymore and her “friend” Kate were walking down the street, leaving behind the building that housed their shared piano teacher. Their relationship had grown through that class, with Amelia giving Kate some help with her work. Kate had a great love of Japan and everything involved with it, or so she said. Amelia was pretty sure Kate only said that to sound more sophisticated instead of saying the truth – which was that she was a huge otaku nerd. Ever since she mentioned that she had _glanced_ at the anime series Sailor Moon when she was younger Kate hadn’t stopped talking about anime. Amelia never really got into it, mostly because she was more interested in her studies than what was on TV. Every now and then, Kate would give her some sheet music for a song she wanted her to try out, and some of the songs were really good, but she wished she could understand whatever lyrics went along with it.

“I’ll have you know _Rolling Girl_ is a big hit on the internet!” Kate said quickly.

“I’m sure it is.” Amelia replied uninterestedly, handing the sheet music back to her, “But I don’t want to play this for the recital.” To show everyone their progress in their piano classes, their teacher managed to plan a recital for the public audience. Everyone was allowed to pick their three favorite songs to play, as long as they managed to learn them in time. As a favor to her friend, Amelia had picked one of the songs from an anime movie they had both watched but that was all she planned to do.

“Aw, why not?” Kate whined, doing nothing to take back the sheets of paper.

“Because I’m already playing that merry-go-round song that you gave me for it. I think that’s enough.”

“It’s called _Merry-go-Round of Life_ , remember? And I think this one would really jazz up your performance!”

“If I wanted to jazz up my performance, I’d get jazz music, not this.” She blatantly waved the papers in front of her friend’s face and she sighed as Kate took them back. “Besides, I think I’m pretty much set. If you want people to hear that song so badly, then you can perform it.”

“But you’re so much better than me!” Kate whined again.

Amelia sighed again, wondering just how it was this person got to be so annoying. She was also wondering where all this sighing was coming from. “You’d be on the same level as me if you just focused more on the piano and not TV shows. In fact, you’re _supposed_ to be on the same level as me, but you’re not.”

“My animes are not the reason for that.” Kate said, “I have language classes that I’m focusing on, too, you know!”

“Specifically Japanese language classes.”

“What? I think it’s an interesting language!”

“You just want to watch your stuff without subtitles.”

“So? Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Not necessarily, but I think your Japan obsession goes a bit far sometimes.”

“Does not.”

“Does so. Last week you tried to get everyone in those weird blue uniforms for the recital! They looked like military uniforms.”

“They were cosplay uniforms from FMA!”

Amelia gave her friend a dry look, “You realize I have no idea what that means, right?”

“It stands for Fullmetal Alchemist! It’s a really good show!” Kate said, smiling brightly at the mention of the show.

“I’m sure it is.” Amelia said with yet another sigh. As her friend started to get into the greater details of the show, she started to tune her out as she started reaching for some more sheet music from her backpack. She pulled out a few pages, reading the different notes and playing the music in her head, her fingers barely tapping on the back of the paper as she instinctively mimicked the keys to play. She continued to do this until she reached the turn where she and Kate had to part ways.

“Amelia, are you even listening to me?” Kate asked with a pout.

“Mm-hmm.” Amelia mumbled, keeping her eyes on her sheet music. After having known Kate for more than a few months, she had become an expert at tuning her out, as well as making her think she was listening.

“So, will you at least consider playing it at the recital?” Kate asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Great!” Kate folded up the sheet music for Rolling Girl and slipped it into her friend’s jacket pocket, “I’ll be over later, okay?”

“Okay.” Amelia heard the last of her words and she looked up from the sheet music, “Wait, what?”

“We’re gonna hang out later.” Kate said.

“We are?”

“But you just said I could come over…” Kate frowned in confusion.

“Oh. O-Oh, right.” Amelia could feel her face flushing as she lied. She must have agreed to it when she had tuned herself out. “Yeah, sorry. I thought you were talking about next time.”

“There’s going to be a next time?!” Kate asked excitedly.

“Um… Yeah.” Amelia nodded, trying to cover her tracks.

“Amy, you are such a great friend!” Kate suddenly pulled her into a tight hug and Amelia’s eyes widened at the sudden gesture. It wasn’t something she was unfamiliar with when it came to Kate, because she was a big hugger, but to have her suddenly do it out of nowhere was incredibly surprising. She reached up, awkwardly patting her arm until she let go. “I’ll be sure to bring the book, too!”

“Okay.” Amelia had no idea what she was talking about, but it probably wasn’t anything that needed to be worried about. The two girls went their separate ways until they were to meet again later that evening.

* * *

It was a little after seven when someone came to Amelia’s room, announcing Kate’s arrival. Once they stepped aside, the little brunette burst into the room with a giddy smile, holding up a book that Amelia had never seen before.

“Look, I found it!” She squealed, holding up the book.

Amelia glanced at the book with indifference before she waved her hand, signaling that the one who had escorted Kate could leave. “Remind me what it’s for, again?” Amelia said, turning her attention back to her computer.

“So we can discuss the practicality of alchemy!” Kate nearly squealed as she came over to her desk, happily plopping herself on it right next to Amelia’s laptop, her feet dangling over the side. Amelia looked up at the book she held, which was a surprisingly large tome covered in brown leather, with a picture of an eight-pointed star inside a circle, and a shepherd’s hook curling into the middle. “I had to dig through my unpacked book box to get to it.” She opened it up on her lap, starting to flip through the pages eagerly.

“Why do you have an unpacked book box?” Amelia asked, her focus still on her computer.

“I just never bothered to put the books away when we moved to town.” Kate replied.

Amelia paused, “When did you move in?”

Kate took a moment to think, her fingers fiddling with the corner of the page, “Let’s see… I’m fifteen now, and when we moved I was… nine? Yeah, nine.”

“You have a box that you haven’t unpacked in the last six years?” Amelia asked in surprise.

“Yep.” Kate smiled brightly, “Kinda funny, huh?”

“If you want to call it that…” Amelia muttered, returning her attention to her computer.

Kate rocked back and forth on the desk, “Come on! I wanna try one of the transmutation circles!” The desk creaked each time she rocked back.

“Okay, could you not?” Amelia held out her hand to stop her from moving, “And I’m a little busy right now. You can just do that yourself.”

“But you’re gonna miss out.” Kate made a pouty face. Amelia was amazed this girl had so much energy to be so peppy. Her expression remained blank, with the exception of a dryly raised eyebrow. Kate sighed, “Okay, I’ll just do it in front of you.” She hopped off the desk, “Let me see… What kind of desk is that?”

“Mahogany.” Amelia didn’t look, but she could hear the pages of the book as she eagerly flipped through them. After a minute, she came around to the opposite side of the desk, placing the book down and producing a piece of paper from a pocket. Amelia looked up from her work to see Kate drawing a little circle image onto it, and then placing it on the desk. “I hope that stuff doesn’t bleed through.”

“It won’t.” Kate promised. She smiled when she had finished the circle and placed it down on the desk. She stood back, her arms held up high, and she made her voice deeper as she said, “Behold! The magnificent art of alchemy that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!” and she slammed her hands down on the desk. Amelia stared blankly at the sheet of paper, then looked up at Kate, who seemed genuinely disappointed. She slammed her hands down again, and again, and then she whined and sort of… crumpled next to the desk. She was on her knees and her chin was resting on the surface, her arms hanging limply by her side, “It didn’t work…”

“Well, what did you expect?” Amelia asked dryly, going back to her computer, typing in a few extra things onto her word document program, “Alchemy isn’t real. It was just a half-assed form of science that ended up being the starting point for chemistry. It’s an interesting concept for a story or a TV show or whatever, but it’s not really practical.”

“But if it was—!”

“But nothing. Don’t discuss the practicality of things that don’t exist.”

Kate pouted, looking down at the piece of paper. “I don’t understand what went wrong… according to the book it should have worked.”

“It’s not real!” Amelia snapped, growing irritated, “You can’t believe everything you see on TV. Especially not some Japanese cartoon.”

“Okay, okay…” Kate sighed as she stood up, taking the book off the desk. “You’re probably right.”

“I’m _definitely_ right.” Amelia replied.

There was a few moments of silence between the girls, one of them seemed to be waiting for the other to say something. When Amelia realized that Kate didn’t have anything else planned, she sighed and closed her laptop. Before she could ask her to leave, Kate spoke up.

“Hey, you wanna go get some ice cream?”

“What?” Amelia was thrown off by the sudden question.

“I just feel like getting some ice cream. You have some down stairs, right?” Kate smiled brightly.

“Mom and Dad just had an ice cream social. We’re fresh out.”

“Then you wanna go and get some? I know there’s a Baskin Robbins just outside your neighborhood.”

Amelia thought for a moment. “I could go for some ice cream.” A little soft-serve was probably worth dealing with Kate for twenty minutes more.

“Cool! We can take my car!” Kate said, and she hurried out the door. Amelia debated just shutting the door and locking her out, but she knew Kate would find her way back inside, somehow. She got up from her seat and followed the girl out. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Amelia passed by the living room, where her father was currently reading a book, and her mother was looking over all her updates on her mobile phone. Normally, a child would let their parents know that they were leaving with a friend, but Amelia decided against it. They probably wouldn’t notice if she had left for a half hour.

When they reached the garage, Kate opened up her book again, frowning as she looked over some of the circles on the pages, “I was so positive that it would work. Do you think I did something wrong?”

“Alchemy is wrong in general, it’s impossible to do it right.” Amelia said, walking past her to where Kate’s car was parked on the driveway. She didn’t pay any attention to Kate’s mumblings as she looked over the pages, thinking hard. Then she gasped, struck with a sudden epiphany, and she knelt down on the garage floor, taking the marker she had used before out of her pocket and drawing on the cement flooring. When Amelia noticed she wasn’t following, and instead drawing on the floor, she let out a groan, “Are you seriously tagging my garage? I thought you wanted ice cream.”

“I’m not tagging it, I think I know what to do this time!” Kate said excitedly as she drew in the details, “The reason it didn’t work before was because the circle was on a piece of paper, it wasn’t connected to the actual object of transmutation.”

“Oh my God…” Amelia moaned to herself as she put on the finishing touches, “Kate, be realistic. Alchemy isn’t real!”

“Just let me try!” Kate insisted, and she pressed her hands to the circle. Amelia’s brow furrowed, growing increasingly irritated with Kate’s fruitless efforts.

“This is getting ridiculous.” She clapped her hands to show her impatience, “Come on, let’s go!”

“Oh! I forgot to clap!” Kate said, and she clapped her hands and pressed them to the circle. Before Amelia could tell her off for being so ridiculous, the circle started to glow, and a bright light filled up the garage, blinding her.

* * *

Amelia slowly came to, coughing as the dust around her started to fall away. “God damn it, Kate… When I get my hands on you, I swear to God…” She pushed herself up, rubbing the dirt out of her eyes.

And then she heard the cocking of a gun.

She looked up, her wide eyes meeting the barrel of a rifle gun, and not just one, but several. She looked around, seeing she was surrounded by men in blue uniforms, all of them had their guns trained on her. She also realized she wasn’t in her garage anymore, but outside, in the middle of some kind of courtyard, in the middle of the day, rather than the evening.

“Show me your hands.” One of the men commanded, and Amelia did as he asked, her hands moving up, showing she was unarmed, “Now stand up.” She did as he said, carefully moving to stand. When she was up, the one giving the orders nodded to another and he came over, taking her hands and putting them behind her back, locking them with handcuffs. “You’re under arrest for trespassing on military property.”

“What?!” Amelia immediately started to resist, and the man cuffing her held her shoulders, “Wait, there’s been some kind of mistake!”

“You have the right to remain silent,” The man continued, ignoring her, “Anything you say can and will be used against you in the Fuehrer’s court. You have a right to representation under the consent of the Fuehrer and his council, and you have the right to represent yourself.”

“This is insane!” The men started moving her somewhere, she guessed it was the prison. The entire time the man was reading off some version of Miranda rights that she had never heard of before. As they pushed her on, she kept seeing people in the same blue uniform, but one thing stuck out to her more than anything.

Where the hell is Kate?


	2. Imprisoned

_**"I've learned the lesson that when you're in the** _   
_**middle of something that seems overwhelming, or you're** _   
_**in a bad situation and it seems like the end of the world** _   
_**or whatever, and then you learn that it's not."** _

**\- Lee Ann Womack**

* * *

Roy Mustang was having trouble restraining himself as Hughes continued to rant about his daughter, shoving an endless amount of pictures in his face.

"-She's so smart! She's already learning how to tie her shoes, and she does it in the cutest way! She always chants the little instructions we gave her, and she's just so _concentrated_ on it! It's the most adorable thing!"

"Hughes, if you stuff that picture in my face one more time, you'll be getting back its ashes." Mustang growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the sight of all the different photographs in his friend's hands. Hughes blinked, and then frowned at his friend, looking as if Mustang had just uttered the worst of blasphemies.

"You wouldn't dare. Besides, Elicia is too cute for someone to burn her picture!" The Lieutenant Colonel insisted as he hugged one of the multiple photographs to his chest. Mustang arched a challenging eyebrow.

"Don't bet on it, Maes."

There was the sound of pounding footsteps in the hallway, and the two men looked up to see a private-ranked officer rush into the room. "L-Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, sir!"

"Private Stock." The young officer saluted and Hughes returned it, "What seems to be the problem?"

"Sir, there's a… well, a very strange thing that needs your attention, as a member of the investigations office…"

* * *

Amelia looked up at her ceiling from the little wooden bench that was meant to be her bed. She had counted the ceiling tiles at least ten times now, only to find that none had changed in the last 30 seconds. She moved her head around to where her guard was on the other side of the barred door. He was a relatively young man, somewhere in his mid or late twenties, with blonde hair and a lax attitude. He was leaning back in the chair and smoking a cigarette that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"I didn't think smoking was allowed in public buildings." She said, making sure she spoke loud enough for him to hear.

He chuckled, "Who would make up a rule like that? Of course it's allowed."

"You know that stuff will kill you, right?" Amelia sat up so she could speak to him better.

"Maybe. It'll take years and years for that, though. I got time." He shot her a grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Well if that's how it is, can I have one?" She didn't smoke, but she figured she might as well take it up since she was going to be in jail and wouldn't have anything better to do.

"Nope. Sorry. The only prisoners who are allowed these babies are those on death row. We can move you up if you—"

"Hell no. Forget it."

He chuckled again, taking a long drag from the cigarette, "But, for the record, I don't think you'll get put on death row. Trespassing is a crime, but it doesn't warrant death."

"Well, thank God for that." Amelia sighed, slumping back against the wall, her feet dangling over the side of her wooden bench/bed. Despite the sarcasm in her voice, knowing that she wasn't going to be killed for trespassing was comforting. "How do you guys do execution around here anyway?"

"Hanging."

Amelia looked at him with wide eyes, "You're joking."

"Nope. Been that way for the last… oh, hundred years, I think."

"With that kind of archaic style, you may as well use the guillotine."

"Gee-what?"

"Guillotine. You know, the big device where you put someone's head in a hole and drop a blade down on them to chop off their head?"

Havoc reached up, his hand moving over his neck, looking pretty disturbed, "Can't say I've ever heard of it. Sounds disgusting."

"It is."

"Are you saying that's what you want?"

"I'm saying it's the same as hanging someone. Don't you guys have lethal injections?"

"What are those?"

"Never mind."

* * *

"What do you mean she just 'appeared'?" Hughes asked the shaken officer.

"A-As I said, sir. There was a bright flash of light, and then the girl was in the barracks." The young man stuttered, obviously wary of ticking off his superior. "An unusual transmutation circle was left behind when we apprehended her."

"And is it still there?" Mustang asked.

"Yes, sir. We've taped off the area to avoid anyone destroying it."

"And what about the girl?"

"She's in holding, sir. We have Lieutenant Havoc placed as guard."

"That explains why he's not at his desk…" Mustang muttered, looking over at the work spaces for the rest of his men, Havoc's space being completely empty, despite the paperwork resting on it. He moved his gaze back to the private, who jumped. He couldn't help but grin a little on the inside, it was really fun scaring the new guys with his rank.

Hughes sighed, "Well, then, get the interrogation room ready. I'll question her."

"Sir!" The soldier saluted again before leaving.

Maes turned to his friend, "Think you could look over that transmutation circle? You know more about this stuff than I do."

"I'm up to my ears in paperwork, and you want me to help out the investigations department?" Roy asked.

"I figured it would be a good reason for Hawkeye not to shoot you when you came back late." Hughes grinned.

Roy returned it, "You know me too well."

* * *

"No, I'm serious!"

"It doesn't exist!"

"Yes it does! It's in the jungle. I've heard so many stories about it."

"Well how does it even get _up_ there in the first place?"

"It swims up your pee."

"Gross! Who pees in jungle water?"

"I don't know, but they don't do it anymore."

"You're making this up."

"I swear, I'm not."

For the last half hour, Amelia had been discussing many different things with her prison guard. He still hadn't given her his name, but she figured it didn't really matter at this point. She was just making conversation since she was bored. It was the first time she had ever gotten the chance to talk about morbid subjects with a person before that was actually interested. She would have tried Kate, but she wasn't in the same cell as her, if she was even in the same building. She hadn't asked about Kate. She figured she was fine and if someone asked whose fault it was, she'd say it was hers. She did the thing that got her here anyway.

"Do people seriously amputate it?" Her guard asked, looking both terrified and disgusted, but interested at the same time.

"Well, you kinda have to." She replied. "It's either that, or rip it out and ruin the thing forever."

He shuddered, "So, it just… hooks itself in?"

Amelia nodded, "Yeah."

"Why?"

"There's some chemical in pee that it likes, and since you're kinda the source for it, it stays there."

"That's sick."

"No kidding."

They heard the sound of a door shut and the pair looked up to see someone approaching. Amelia's guard have him a lazy salute from his seat, "Hey Hughes."

"What are you doing in here? You're supposed to be at your desk."

"Lost a bet with the guy on guard duty."

Hughes chuckled, "That right?" He turned to look at Amelia, who was leaning up against the bars of her prison cell, "You're the girl right? The trespasser?"

"I didn't trespass anything." Amelia snapped.

"I'll need you to come with me. I have a few questions I want to ask you." Amelia stood up straight, realizing that this guy was going to be the one in charge of her police case or military case or whatever the hell she was to these people. The thought quickly sobered her up.

"Oh. Okay." She stood back as he unlocked her cell door. Hughes noticed her sudden change in attitude, and he gave her a smile to try and help her relax.

"Don't worry. It's just some simple questions, basic procedure. If you did nothing wrong, you should be fine."

"Yeah." She didn't calm down as they walked out of the holding cell. She was already picturing the interrogation room. She thought it might be like the movies, the metal table and chairs, the single, swinging light overhead, great big one-way mirror on one wall that she would have to face. It wasn't something she was looking forward to.

Turns out the interrogation room was just across from the holding cells. She was led inside and saw that the room was pretty much what she imagined it would be, only without a one-way mirror, and the furniture was wooden, rather than metal. She took a seat across from Hughes as he readied a notepad.

"Alright, let's start with your full name." He said calmly, trying not to scare the girl in front of him anymore than she already was.

"Amelia Anouk Seymour." She watched as he started to scribble onto the page.

"How do you spell that middle name?"

"A-N-O-U-K."

"Don't think I've ever met anyone with that name."

"It's old."

"How old are you, Miss Seymour?"

"I turned 16 last month."

He nodded, getting down all this information as she said it. This girl was barely old enough to take the alchemy exam.

"And what is your date of birth?"

"July 21st, 1998."

Here, Hughes paused, and he looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "…1998?"

Amelia nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Miss Seymour, it's not possible for that to be your birth year. It's 1915."

Amelia's brow furrowed at this information. That couldn't be right. "…It's 2016."

"No, Miss Seymour, it's not." Hughes insisted. He looked down at the paper, "Seems your sense of time is off… Considering your age, you were born in 1897."

Amelia slumped back in her seat. She was positive of exactly what year it was, even more so the year she was _born_. Why was he saying it was wrong? Part of her wanted to believe that this was all a part of some elaborate prank by Katie, but she didn't think she had the time or money to be able to rent out a holding cell _and_ interrogation room. She did, but not Katie.

"And how long have you lived in Central?"

"What?" Her brain was still processing the 1915 thing.

"How long have you lived in Central City?"

"I… don't. I live in Sacramento."

Hughes looked up at her oddly, "Sacramento?"

"Yeah, in California."

Hughes still kept that odd look.

"You know… the _state_. Of the United States?"

Hughes was silent.

"The United States! Of America! It's the country underneath Canada and above Mexico!"

No response.

"It takes up a half of a continent!"

Still nothing, though he did write something down on the notepad.

Amelia wasn't sure whether she should scream in frustration, or start having a panic attack. Before any decisions were made, Hughes asked her another question.

"Do you have any family that you can contact, to tell them where you are?"

"Well…" She thought over her situation for a moment. "My parents aren't home a lot. Last time I checked they still were, but they might have left already."

"I see… How about brothers or sisters?"

"Only child." She paused, and then remembered Kate mentioning something about her family, "I think Kate's got an older brother, though."

"Kate?"

"Yeah, the girl I was with."

Again, Hughes gave her that odd look, though this time it was laced with concern, "Miss Seymour, you weren't with anyone when we caught you. You were alone."

Amelia was silent for a moment, "…No, she should have been there. She was the one that did the… thing."

"The thing?"

"The stupid… glowy… You know what, if you want to blame anyone for all this shit, blame her! It's her fault!"

"Hardly a way to talk about your friend."

"She's _not_ my friend. She just doesn't know when to take a hint."

"Right…" Hughes wrote down a few more things, "We'll keep an eye out for her then. What does she look like?"

"Brown hair, little on the short side, and freckles." He wrote down her description and nodded.

"Now, why don't you tell me about how you came to be in the barracks?"

"Ask Kate. I don't understand how any of this happened. One second we're in my garage, the next some asshole is putting me under arrest."

"Mm-hmm." He wrote down her response. "So, basically if we find Kate, we'll get the answers we need?"

"Yeah."

He nodded again, underlining the note about putting out a BOLO on a girl named Kate. "We'll need more details about her. Do you think you could describe her to a sketch artist?"

"Yeah, sure."

He nodded, "Well, that's all we need for now, I suppose, since you can't really offer a lot of information until we find this Kate." He tucked the note pad under his arm and stood up, "Let's get you back to your cell."

* * *

Hughes shook his head as he looked over his notes, writing them into the main report. He looked up, seeing Mustang making his way in.

"I saw the circle." He held up a piece of paper that was most likely his notes on the whole thing.

"Oh, good. More paperwork for me." Hughes said sarcastically, waving for him to come over, "So what did you find?"

"It was your basic transmutation circle, from what I saw." Roy said, handing over his notes, "Capable of doing some simple transmutations, but nothing specific as far as I could tell. Certainly nothing involving humans."

"So she's off the hook on that one." Hughes put the paper down next to the sketch that had been made based off of Amelia's description. Roy noticed it, picking up the portrait, "That's a friend of hers. She says she's the one responsible for the transmutation circle. I'm going to give the guys in PR her sketch so they can put out posters."

"She's cute." Roy said.

"She's fifteen."

"I said she's cute, I didn't say she was my type."

Hughes snorted, "Yeah, because you have _such_ picky tastes when it comes to women."

"Shut up." Roy chuckled.

The office door opened, and the two men looked to see who it was, and they both suddenly stood to attention, saluting the newcomer.

"Fuhrer King Bradley, sir! What are you doing here?" Hughes asked.

Bradley waved his hand, showing that they could be at ease in front of him, "I heard there was a rather strange occurrence today. Some sort of trespasser that used alchemy?"

"Yes, sir." Mustang spoke up, "However, I think it might have just been a fluke. The transmutation circle I saw was set up for basic alchemical transmutations."

"And yet they was able to transport themselves through it." The older man let out a hum, and then he smiled, "It sounds like quite the alchemical talent if you ask me."

"I… suppose so, but I stand by my theory that it was simply a fluke. A transmutation such as the one I saw wouldn't be capable of something like teleportation."

"And yet, that's what happened." He smiled at the colonel, "Do you know where this young lady is being held?"

* * *

Amelia looked up at her guard, looking over her hand of cards. The blonde guy had been exchanged for someone else. He was much more on the portly side, with red hair and a pretty laid-back look. Apparently, they were pretty chummy if their conversation during the exchange was anything to go by.

"Havoc. I see you're still stuck on prison duty." He smiled smugly down at him.  
"Shut up, Breda. Everyone knows you cheat." Havoc glared at him, with a smile of his own on his face, his cigarette hanging out of the corner.

"Ha! You wish." He pulled him out of the chair, their hands gripping each other like any good friends would, and Amelia expected them to do the handshake-hug thing she had seen others do, but it was just a handshake. "Anyway, it's my turn."

"Thank God." He turned to Amelia, "See ya, kiddo. We'll talk more another time."

"Shame for you, I was about to tell you the story of the peeper that was stupid enough to get crushed by a bathtub."

"Where the hell do you get these stories?" Havoc asked. They had been exchanging different disturbing tales all day, Havoc telling her some urban legends, about Warehouse 13 and a few other things about living puppets and their masters, and she gave some she had heard from the TV show 1,000 Ways to Die – It was a guilty pleasure of hers among all the other things she got from private tutors and documentaries.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

He shook his head, turning to his friend, "This kid knows how to entertain you, at least." He said before walking out.

"Wuss!" Amelia called after him. She slumped against the stiff cot that was her bed when the door slammed. She looked over at the new guy, who took Havoc's seat, the wooden chair creaking a little under his weight. "He told me a lot of weird stories."

"There are lots of rumors that run around this place." Breda replied with a shrug. "I'm surprised you didn't know about them before you came here."

"Never been here before." Amelia replied, shrugging again, "So what bet did you lose to get on guard duty?"

He laughed, "Actually, I won that bet. I'm better off during the late hours. You guys are normally asleep and it gives me time to perfect my game." He pulled out a deck of cards from his sleeve.

"What games do you play?" Amelia asked, doing so more to fill the air than anything. She didn't really play a lot of card games.

"Oh, all kinds. Lots of poker, a little solitaire when I'm particularly bored, but I also play a lot of GOPS."

"What?" Amelia's head jerked up at the name, "What kind of name is gops?"

"You've never heard of it?" Breda looked genuinely surprised, "It's one of the greatest card games in existence!"

"With a name like that, I really doubt it."

"What?" Breda shook his head, moving his chair closer to the cell door, "Get over here. You're playing this game."

"Uh, I don't think so. I've never played." Amelia remained where she was.

"I'll teach you."

"I won't be a challenge. You'll win."

"Not if you're any good at strategy." Breda grinned at her, "Come on. It's not like you've got anything better to do."

He had her on that one.

And that was how she ended up learning the odd strategy game that was GOPS (or game of pure strategy as she came to find out). Basically, the higher points your cards had, the better you did in the game. She sat cross-legged in front of the new prison guard, both of them having a hand full of cards. She was still going over which cards to play, wondering whether or not now was the time to play her king. Breda already knew what he was going to do, and now he was just waiting on her.

"You gonna pick something or what?"

"Shut up, I'm thinking."

"It's only the third round, you can't have any decent cards." Okay, she was going to play her king, if only to shut up his smug little face.

"Alright, alright." She discarded what she didn't need and looked up at him, "I'm ready." They both showed their hands, and Amelia was ecstatic to see that Breda didn't have any kings. "Yes! This hand is mine!" She reached out for the card that she should have won, but Breda snatched it from her.

"Uh-uh. Count up your points." He held up his hand, "Altogether, I've got 20."

Amelia looked over her hand again, seeing that, while she had a king, she only had 19 points. "God damn it."

He laughed, "Okay, next hand." He started to shuffle the deck, when the door leading outside opened up. Breda glanced at whoever it was, and then he dropped the deck, quickly scrambling to attention and saluting him.

"Fuhrer King Bradley, sir!" He greeted.

"At ease, lieutenant." Amelia pushed herself up to her feet, standing as she saw the older man approaching. His face was well-wrinkled, and he had a pleasant smile on his face, though she was a bit put-off by the eye patch he wore. She kept her hands on the bars of her cell door as he came in front of her cell, looking her over, "Is this the one they found this morning?"

"Yes, sir." Amelia couldn't help raising one eyebrow at the man's focus on her. What did Breda say a second ago? What was his title? Was it king? Was this the country's ruler?!

He kept that pleasant smile on his face, "It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I'm Fuhrer King Bradley." He held out his hand to her and she put hers through the bars to shake it.

"Um, Amelia Seymour. Nice to meet you…" She paused for a second, "Your majesty…?" Breda stifled a snort in laughter and Amelia glared at him, feeling her face heat with shame when she heard Bradley starting to laugh boisterously. "What?! You said you were a king!" She snapped, trying to justify her mistake.

"Oh, no, no." Bradley chuckled, "King is my first name. My _title_ is Fuhrer." He gently corrected her.

"Oh." She could still feel her cheeks burning from the shame of it all. She paused for another second. "Wait, your first name is King?" He nodded in confirmation, "Dude, no offense, but who names their kid King?" She realized a second later how rude that question was.

"Parents who hope their son would one day rule the country." Bradley said, still smiling, despite what she had said, "I heard that you were a foreigner to Amestris, but I didn't think you would know so little about this country." Amelia didn't say anything, although she really wanted to. She felt like he was making a joke about her ignorance, and that always frustrated her. People saying that she had lived a sheltered life, that she doesn't understand the problems of the world and never could. She always wanted to smack them around for it. She could damn well understand it, and if she had money she could use whenever she wanted (That was actually HER money) she would gladly help. Though she didn't want to use her parents' money to do good and let them have all the glory, it may be selfish of her, but she would rather be selfish and despise her parents rather than letting her mother feel like she's a star again and get that big ass ego going. She may not let people use her upper class status to their advantage back home, but she sure as hell wasn't about to say 'shut up' to the ruler of a country. She knew better than that. "I bet that cell isn't very comfortable, is it?"

"You kidding? This place is a regular luxury suite." Didn't mean she couldn't be sarcastic, though. To her surprise, the man actually laughed boisterously again, the sound filling up the otherwise empty prison hall. She awkwardly chuckled along, glancing over at Breda, who only shrugged in response to her wordless question. She pursed her lips, looking back up at him. "So… did you just come down here to laugh at me?"

He stopped laughing, turning to her with that same pleasant smile, "Actually, I was hoping to speak to you. I understand you haven't tried to attack anyone."

"Why would I do that?" She knocked her hand against the bars of the prison cell, "I'm in here, don't want to make it any worse by having you guys send me into the rabbit hole or something."

"I don't think I've ever heard of it said that way, but that's a wise decision. You're a smart girl."

"Um… thanks?" She didn't really know where he was going with this.

"In any case, I think we should move somewhere more comfortable to talk." He turned to Breda, "Would you mind opening the door and escorting her to my office?"

"Of course, sir." Breda moved and pulled out the keys to open the cell door. His serious expression didn't really give her comfort as he pulled her out of the cell. For clear safety precautions (That strangely were not implemented when she was taken to interrogation) she was put in a pair of wooden handcuffs. She followed alongside Breda, walking behind the Fuhrer as they went to his office. Her heart was racing the entire time. She was pretty sure the ruler of a country wouldn't bother looking for a trespasser if it wasn't for some big reason. She just hoped it wasn't something that would end badly for her.


	3. Teacher

She sat on the other side of the small table, watching as the older man poured some warm tea for her into what looked like some very fine china. She glanced over at the door, where two very intimidating guards were watching her every move. Breda had been told to wait outside until Bradley had finished speaking to her. Her hands were still in the wooden cuffs, which made it a bit difficult to reach for the tea, but she managed.

"I hope you like raspberry." He said, "This is a very sweet blend, and many of my guests seem to enjoy it."

"Thank you." She carefully moved her hands to bring it to her mouth, wincing a little when it burned her tongue at first, but it was still a bit sweet, so it wasn't so bad. However, the cuffs were a little too hindering for her to really enjoy any of it. She didn't reach for it again, "So… is there a reason you decided to pull me out of the prison cell?"

"Yes." He looked at her, "I understand you managed to find a way into the barracks through means of alchemy, and a rather interesting one, from what I've heard."

"I guess." She shrugged.

"I'd like to make you an offer," He leaned forward a little in his seat, "We have a program in this country that takes in local alchemists as part of the military. In return for providing the state with their research findings, every alchemist is given a rather hefty research fund to do with as they please, as well as have access to exclusive libraries of materials that are only available to state certified alchemists."

"Okay." She nodded. She got a little bit uninterested when he mentioned the part about her joining the military, but she wasn't about to say anything about it.

"Now, how much alchemy training do you have?" He asked.

"…Like, next to none." Pretty much none, but apparently alchemical knowledge held something here and she wasn't about to say she didn't know jack. Katie wasn't here to explain anything to her, so she'd have to figure it out on her own. Hopefully.

He nodded, quiet for a moment, "Miss Seymour, do you know the penalty for trespassing on military property?" She shook her head, "It's ten years in prison."

"Ten years?!" Her eyes widened. Ten years seemed a little harsh for trespassing! "What if someone got onto military property by accident?"

"They would still get ten years. 8 if they got out on good behavior." He said coolly, as if there was nothing to sentencing someone for ten years. She slumped back in her seat. She was going to be in prison for _ten years_. "This would be your sentence, if you choose not to accept." She looked up at him, "If you decide to take the exam, you can have one year to study in preparation for it, perfecting your alchemical skill. We already had the exam a month ago, and I don't think it's fair to the incoming candidates to have you take it ahead of them." He smiled, "I'll have you set up with an alchemical master to help educate you, as well as keep an eye on you since he will be a state-certified alchemist. All in all, I think it's a good opportunity, jail sentence or not."

"Uh… yeah, sure. That sounds pretty good." She replied. "Who would be my teacher?"

"I'll have to look for volunteers. Since Central is the hub of activity in Amestris, I'm sure we'll find someone." Bradley replied, "So, what do you think? Do you want to try this little route?"

"Yeah! Yes, absolutely." She said quickly. Even if she got some time out of the prison cell, even if it was just going in and out for one year, it was better than staying in one all day every day for 10 years.

"Excellent. I'll send out a notice to all available alchemists and we'll find you a teacher."

* * *

"Sir, this just came to you from the Fuhrer's office." Riza said, holding out the envelope. Mustang took it, opening it up and glancing over the letter that had been written, and he smirked. "Something funny, sir?"

"It seems the little trespasser from yesterday managed to cut herself a deal." He replied, folding up the letter, "His Excellency is calling on all available alchemists in Central to volunteer themselves to be a year-long tutor for her. Apparently they're going to get a rather big bonus in return for it."

"Are you going to apply, sir?" Riza asked.

"Hell no. I'm not going to teach alchemy to anyone if I can help it." He said, tossing the letter into his waste basket, "He only needs one tutor, and I'm not about to ask to join in. That would be better suited to Fullmetal."

Riza held out a second envelope, "Here's Edward's notice, sir. They thought it best for me to ask you to deliver it rather than deliver it themselves."

"Probably for the better. It'd just fill up his mailbox." He took the letter from her, glancing up as the door opened to see a blonde head of hair walking in, "And speak of the devil."

"Good morning to you, too, Colonel Bastard." Ed said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, tossing a small pile of papers onto his desk, "There's my report from my visit to the west."

"Anything good?" Mustang asked as he glanced over the papers.

"Not a damn thing." He turned around, "Bye."

"Hold on, Fullmetal." Roy watched as Ed stopped and glared over his shoulder at Mustang, clearly not in the mood to listen to whatever it was he had to say. He held up the envelope that Riza had given him, "Here, something for you to consider." The teenager raised a curious eyebrow as he walked over to take it, ripping it open and glancing over it. "Obviously, it's a voluntary position, so it's not mandatory, but it is recommended."

Edward scoffed, "Forget that, Al and I travel too much to take on an extra assignment, much less look after some girl."

"I'll be sure to inform His Excellency of your decision, then." Roy replied, and Edward turned and walked back out of the office and into the hallway where his brother waited for him.

* * *

Amelia had been returned to her prison cell after meeting with Fuhrer Bradley last night. The cuffs were removed, and the cell was just as boring as she remembered it. After a while, she had grown tired and gone to bed and Breda had decided to enjoy himself with some solitaire. When she woke up, she heard the sound of metal scraping across concrete, someone saying "Breakfast." and she looked to see that some food had been delivered. There was also another guard present, one that she didn't recognize. He didn't seem interested in her as she got up and went over to where the tray had slid in through the door. It was hardly what she would call breakfast – a tin can of water, a lump of bread, and something that she guessed was gruel – but she wasn't about to completely disregard the food that she had been given. She ate quietly, munching on the bread and putting bits of gruel in between bites. She couldn't help grimacing a little as she ate it. It was all so _bland_.

She looked up at the guard, "So, what's your name?"

He didn't respond.

She furrowed her brows slightly, "Uh, do you know anything about how that deal I made is coming along?"

Again, he didn't respond.

"You know, it would be nice if I could get a little feedback."

Silence.

She sighed, "Whatever, be a stick in the mud, then." She kept munching on her breakfast, one hand going up to her neck. She had gotten a bad crick from sleeping on a wooden bed, and she was looking forward to when she would get out of here. She hoped that at least one alchemist would approach for the job… but what if no one did? The more she thought on it, the more she thought that no one would take it. They were basically signing up to be a teacher for a prisoner. And even then, that didn't mean that she would be able to leave the prison cell she was in, she'd probably stay there, studying alchemy, for an entire _year_.

The thought wasn't a great one, but she tried to stay optimistic. Surely there would be at least one person who would do it, and even if she didn't get out of the cell, she would have material to study and go over so she wouldn't be completely bored. Hopefully.

She finished her breakfast sooner than she thought she would. She put her spoon in the little cup and brought the tray over to the guard by the door, knocking it against the bars to get his attention. "Hey, I'm done with this. Do I give it to you?"

He was still silent.

She glared at him, "Dude, come on. At least tell me if I can keep this thing or not. I know you've got a duty as a guard or whatever, but you're potentially giving me a weapon here." She knocked the edge of the tray against the bars again, "Seriously, if you opened this door, I could whack you on the head with this until you passed out."

That got his attention. For the first time, the guard moved over to the front of the prison door and held out his hand. She couldn't really give him the entire tray with everything on it, but she managed to give him the cup, the plate, and the spoon through the bars before sliding the tray through as well. The guard tucked it under his arm, and then left it to rest on the table that Breda had been using before to practice his card game. Now there was nothing more for her to do. She let out a sigh and went back to the wooden bed, laying down and staring at the ceiling, trying to think of some way to pass the time until she heard about someone coming to teach her.

* * *

Three hours had passed, and Amelia was immensely enjoying herself. The guard looked like he was about to bust a blood vessel. For the last hour she had been slowly making popping sounds with her mouth. The first time she did it, it was just out of boredom, and then she saw him flinch. She found it to be particularly sadistic, but she was having fun. She saw his tension growing with each passing second that she didn't make the noise, and she tested it. He seemed to relax after a minute of silence, and then she did it again. She was driving him up the wall, but because he had apparently taken it upon himself to be more of a statue than an actual guard, he hadn't said anything, hadn't moved, there was nothing he could do to stop her.

The door opened and a familiar head of blonde hair came in carrying a tray of food, announcing, "Lunch."

"Oh, thank _God!_ " The soldier let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders visibly slumping as he walked out of the hall. Havoc came up to the door, quirking a curious eyebrow as he held out the tray of food to Amelia. It was the same basic meal as breakfast, only instead of gruel, it looked like some kind of soup.

"What was that about?" He asked as the door slammed shut.

"Just having a bit of fun." Amelia replied as she took the tray from him, heading over to the wooden cot and sitting down before she started to eat. Through a mouthful of bread she asked, "I thought the bet was only for yesterday."

"Nah, it was for the whole week. High stakes." Havoc replied, taking the seat that the last guard had left. "So, what did you do?"

"I might have tortured him a little." She swallowed down her bite of bread and smiled at him mischievously.

Havoc chuckled, "How cruel. What kind of torture?" Amelia mimicked the popping sound she had made for him. "That's it?"

"Did it for three hours straight."

Havoc hissed through his teeth, "Damn. I couldn't take that. And Johnson was so nervous about his shift, too."

"Is that his name? He didn't say a word to me."

Havoc shrugged, "Technically we're not supposed to, but it gets boring here and prisoners are bound to say something. No one really cares for that particular rule."

Amelia nodded, taking a couple more bites of soup-flavored bread before speaking up again, "So, is there any word on the teacher thing?"

Havoc's grin grew, "I haven't heard anything."

Amelia turned to him, her eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion, "Then why are you smiling?"

"Because everyone in Central Command is talking about it. Lots of the alchemists here aren't interested in taking on a pupil. I know my boss isn't."

"Your boss is an alchemist?" Her eyes widened, her thoughts immediately going to the Fuhrer. If he had alchemic skill, would he be her default teacher?

Havoc nodded, "Yeah, Colonel Roy Mustang." Oh, so it wasn't him. "He's a rather famous guy around here, but it's not surprising that he didn't take up the offer."

"Why not?"

"Flame alchemy is dangerous, and he's not going to start teaching that to you any time soon."

Amelia let out a groan, "Is there _anybody_ that wants to take it?"

Havoc shrugged, "I wouldn't know, but I'm sure there's at least _one_."

"Great." She let out a sigh, laying back on the floor, munching on her food, "So, anymore weird stories you got to pass the time?"

"I actually did a little research on weird stories to find one that would make you lose your shit."

Amelia sat back up, "And I'm officially interested."

* * *

Fuhrer Bradley went over the different candidates that had submitted themselves for the opportunity he had posed. Many of them weren't potential sacrifices, it wasn't any real loss, and he doubted their alchemical skill would be able to get Amelia's up high enough to make her one of them. He had hoped at least Mustang would have been interested, but he had outright declined with no explanation. At the very least, their military could use a second Flame Alchemist.

He kept looking through the submissions, until one caught his eye. It was one he hadn't really expected to see, but now that he was looking at it… This actually had some potential. This alchemist hardly had the drive to even consider opening the gate, but he certainly had the sentimentality for it. Perhaps he could pass that on to her, and _that_ would definitely be useful to them. He made sure to keep the submission to the side, in case there was anyone that could be a better option. He had to be thorough with this after all. An alchemist capable of teleportation is an impressive feat. She could easily become a sacrifice, if pushed in the right direction.

* * *

"God, you're so _gross_!" Amelia cackled in her prison cell, while Havoc just sat back grinning proudly. "That's _nasty_! How the hell does that even happen?"  
"That's the mystery of the whole thing." He shrugged.

"Ew!" Amelia kept laughing, rolling onto her back on the floor. "Oh, you're disgusting. How the hell do you have a girlfriend?"

"Because my girlfriend is amazing!" Havoc said, gushing a little bit.

"Your girlfriend has incredible patience, that's what it is." Amelia said, sitting up again. "Now it's my turn. I think I said the next story was about the peeper stupid enough to get crushed by a bathtub, right?"

"Oh, God." Havoc sighed. "Alright, do your worst."

"Okay," Amelia sat up straight, "So, the story goes like this: There was this guy that owned this really crappy but really cheap apartment building—" She was cut off when the door opened and the soldier from earlier walked in. "Back already?" She asked with a smirk, making that popping sound again. He visibly winced and she snickered.

"Your release has been set." Johnson said, "The Fuhrer has appointed an alchemy teacher for you."

"Really?!" Amelia immediately jumped up, grabbing the bars of her door, glad to finally get out of prison, in a surprisingly short amount of time, "Who?"

"Major Armstrong: The Strong Arm Alchemist."

Havoc hissed through his teeth sympathetically, "Ooh, tough break."

"What?" Amelia turned to him, "Why? What's wrong with him? Is he bad?"

"No, he's not a bad alchemist." Havoc got up from his seat, picking some keys off of his belt to unlock her door, "He's actually one of the strongest alchemists we have in Central."

"So… I don't get it. What's the issue?"

He chuckled, "You'll find out." He unlocked the door and she followed him out. Before she was released from the actual prison, they of course put handcuffs on her as they walked out. They passed few a through halls that were empty save for a few open offices. When she glanced in, she only saw people in military uniforms working their desk jobs. It wasn't really anything worth looking at.

When they got outside, three people met them. One was the Fuhrer, another was Hughes, and the other was the tallest, beefiest man she had ever seen, who also had the shiniest bald head, too, save for a single golden curl. She was actually a bit terrified by the sight of him and ended up shuffling along behind Havoc.

"I'm sure you're glad to be out in the sunshine again, Miss Seymour." The Fuhrer said with a smile.  
"Yeah." She said, glancing between the three of them, unable to help feeling a little bit like a Chihuahua among Dobermans as she looked up at the country's leader, and then this gigantic mass of muscle that was looming over all of them. "So, uh… you found someone to teach me…?" She knew in all likelihood it was the big, bald guy, but she prayed that it wasn't.

"Yes, this was the best candidate available." He gestured to the big man, who saluted proudly, "Meet Major Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist. He is fiercely loyal to his nation, with great alchemical skill. I thought he would be an excellent teacher."

"Uh… nice to meet you." She said, still a bit wary as she held out her hand.

He held out his own hand, which seemed massive in comparison to hers, and shook it with a surprisingly gentle grip. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Seymour."

"The Armstrong family has been known for their generations of loyal soldiers for the Amestrian military. Because of this, you're being moved from your prison cell into the Armstrong estate." The Fuhrer explained, "So you won't have to suffer through a prison cell for the next year."

"Oh." She smiled a bit, well that was a comforting thought. To be able to sleep in a comfortable bed rather than some crappy excuse for a wooden cot. "That'll be nice."

The Fuhrer nodded. "He was most enthusiastic about teaching you, so I'm sure your lessons will go swimmingly."

Amelia nodded, looking up at the massive amount of what was undoubtedly muscle underneath that uniform and smiled, "I, uh, I look forward to learning from you." She said, trying to be polite and not show any signs of ungratefulness.

He seemed to take it pretty well, because in response, he moved both of his giant hands down, his arms wrapping around her and picking her up off the ground. She felt her feet leave the ground. They were actually _kicking in the air_ as he held her up. "I FEEL SO HONORED TO BE A PART OF YOUR FINER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAGNIFICENT ART OF ALCHEMY! I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT I CAN HELP TO EDUCATE YOU IN A WAY THAT WILL HELP YOU TO SERVE OUR STATE GRACEFULLY AND LOYALLY, SHAPING YOUR FINE CAREER AS A CERTIFIED ALCHEMIST! I FEEL SO MOVED TO BE REWARDED WITH THIS WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY!"

" _Jesus Christ!_ " She squirmed in his arms, his muscles squeezing tightly around her, her legs kicking back and forth as she tried to get out of it, but he didn't let go.

"FEEL THESE MUSCLES, HOW THEY PULSE WITH INTELLECT AND GRACE! THIS TRULY ELEGANT TECHNIQUE FOR INSPIRING GREATNESS IN LEARNING ALCHEMISTS HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!"

" _You're crushing me!_ " She shouted, and the large man instantly dropped her. She landed with a grunt, falling back on her rear. She stared up at him, obviously a little bit terrified. She moved her head back to look up at Havoc, who was barely holding in his laughter by stifling it with his hand. She saw Hughes was smiling, but he seemed to have it a bit more under control. And at the stoic, yet smiling, Fuhrer. "Are you sure there's no one else?"

The mustachioed leader only smiled, "He's a little eccentric, but he will be an excellent tutor for you."

Looks like she had no choice in the matter then. Amelia let out a resigned sigh and pushed herself to her feet. "Great."

"And don't think you'll be able to get away with just the Armstrong family." Hughes spoke up, "I'll be checking in on you every now and again, to see how you're progressing, as well as make sure you're not planning any escape routes."

"Awesome." She stood up, letting out another small huff. She looked down at her hands, which were still contained in her cuffs, "Do I at least get to take these off sometime soon?"

"When we arrive at the estate, you will be allowed to remove them." Armstrong spoke, "And then we shall begin your first day of lessons, after gathering all the necessary materials, of course."

"Right." She gestured for him to walk out in front of her, "Well, please lead the way."


	4. The Hunt

Amelia stepped out of the car that had escorted her from Central headquarters to the Armstrong estate. She had to admit, it looked pretty nice. It reminded her a bit of her own home, except that it seemed to be more on flat land, while her home was up on a hill. She still wore the wooden cuffs throughout the car ride, which was obviously something that annoyed her, but apparently it was just standard that she not be released until she was most definitely secured in Major Armstrong's custody. He had been given the key to use at his leisure, which hopefully meant it wouldn't be too long.

"Now then, allow me to set down some formal rules before we proceed." The major said, stopping just before they reached the front steps of his family's mansion. "The first rule is that you are not allowed to leave the estate without me, or another military personnel until such time as I can trust you."

"Yeah, because I've got places to go." Amelia muttered under her breath. She was in a completely foreign place with no idea how to get anywhere, attempting an escape – though tempting – was probably a bad idea.

"The second rule is that you will show respect to myself and fellow military personnel. And I ask that you call me 'Teacher' during your alchemical lessons." Armstrong continued.

"Okay."

"The third rule is that, when meal time is announced, you will be prompt and join us. I'm sure that my family would be pleased to meet the next student of the great Armstrong alchemy." Good god, this was a proud man. As Amelia looked up at him, with his chest puffed out, she could have sworn she saw him sparkling, too.

"Because what family wouldn't be delighted to meet a convicted felon?" She said in a sarcastically happy tone. She held up her handcuffs, "Can you take these off yet?"

"Not yet." Amelia put her arms down with a huff, "And the fourth rule is that, if you do not respect the first three, I will have no choice but to punish you." Honestly, Amelia didn't want to see the big muscled guy's definition of 'punishment.'

"Deal." She held up her hands again, shaking her handcuffs pointedly.

The major only turned around, seeming to ignore them for now, "Now, if you will follow me, I can introduce you to the family."

Amelia pinched her lips together and resisted the urge to yell at her new caretaker – or prison guard, whichever fit best – as they walked inside the mansion. As they walked in, the major was greeted by a couple servants and he asked where he would find his family. The servant directed him to a parlor room, which was apparently one of two as he called it the one in the Eastern Wing. Amelia followed behind the muscle mass that made up her new teacher. She wondered if he was just one of a bunch of boys that were all muscle bound military men. The thought both made her laugh, and terrified her.

When they got to the parlor room, which was decorated in a comforting lavender shade, she was surprised to see there were more women present than men. There was an older couple which was a short and stout older man who had clearly put some effort into styling his pale blonde beard, and an older woman who stood tall and gangly, even taller than the major (Who Amelia guessed was easily near seven feet). Aside from that there was a younger woman with bright blue eyes and long, luxurious blonde hair that framed her face well, and it seemed to accentuate the seemingly perfect curves of her own body as well. Next to her were two other… well, she assumed they were women from the fact that they wore dresses and had the same blonde hair as everyone else, all of it done up in curls and ribbons. They actually looked exactly like Major Armstrong, only without the beard and… less bald. And breasts, too.

"Amelia Seymour, allow me to introduce my family." The major said, gesturing to the group, "This is my father and my mother." The man stood up, and Amelia was surprised to see that, even though he was rather short compared to the rest of his family, he still stood a couple inches taller than her.

"Philip Gargantos Armstrong." He greeted her, his voice deep like his son's, only a bit gruffer with his age. The older woman stood up, giving only a polite nod. Her face was surprisingly stiff.

"Josephine Armstrong." She introduced herself.

"And these are my sisters," The major gestured to the three women pointing them out one by one, "This is my youngest sister, Catherine Elle Armstrong." The pretty one gave her a polite smile and a nod, not standing up. "And my two older sisters Amue Isabella Armstrong," The taller of the two masculine-looking women stood up and curtsied. "And Strongine Bellatina Armstrong." The shorter one stood up and followed suit. "Everyone, this is Amelia Seymour. I have been appointed by His Excellency, the Fuhrer, to take her on as my alchemy student for a period of one year's time." Even with his family, the major spoke in that formal, near eloquent vocabulary. "She will be staying with us in my custody, and I will make sure she does not harm any of us."

"Yeah, that's not a worrying statement at _all_." Amelia muttered again, giving him a small glare. She looked up when he held up a key, and she held out her wrists for the wooden cuffs. She didn't say it, but in her mind she was screaming, "Finally!"

When he unlocked the cuffs, she was quick to rub at her wrists, letting out a small sigh of relief as she was able to have some freedom. She looked up at her new teacher, and then at the rest of his family. Catherine got up from her seat and she smiled at her, holding out her hand for a friendly handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Seymour." She said.

Amelia was a bit surprised that she was being so friendly considering that her brother just essentially called her a convict. She reached out and shook the girl's hand. "You too." She replied. Catherine smiled sweetly, and Amelia couldn't help finding it a bit contagious, giving a small smile in return. Well, at least they didn't seem to totally hate her. Or maybe they were just that confident in their security.

* * *

"And now we shall begin with your first lesson of alchemy." Armstrong put down a rather thick book onto the table that landed with a small thud. Amelia looked down at it with wide eyes. Someone had actually gone out of their way to write such a giant book on something that was completely useless in the modern world?

"This is an alchemy book?" She looked up at Major Armstrong incredulously.

"Oh, no. This is no alchemy book." He said, opening it up, showing a rather detailed list of names and portraits, "Your lesson begins as mine did, with a full understanding of the Armstrong family tree, and all of their great successes!"

Amelia stared at it, her nose wrinkling a little as she saw many of the guys looked a lot like the major in that they had those giant jawlines and huge muscles. Some of them had older haircuts, but they were pretty much replicas of each other. Some of the women even looked like him, which wasn't surprising given the two other sisters she just met, but there were still women and men that were actually quite stunningly beautiful scattered throughout the tree. Seriously? She was surprised the Armstrong gene pool was that strong to keep it going for however many generations there were. Because there were clearly a ton of them.

Major Armstrong first started with the 'family founder' apparently. He was named Archibald Clarence Armstrong, an immigrant from some other country, and how he started with nothing but a shack to his name. She figured it must have been one of his favorite stories to tell, because he went on and on about his life for the better part of an hour. And then after that, he moved on to the son of Archibald, Ernest Walter Armstrong. From there, it was a long list of marriages and alchemical achievements that Amelia honestly didn't remember.

Her lessons started shortly after a rather strange luncheon with the Armstrong family with some undoubtedly gourmet meals that tasted so much better than prison food. As the major spoke, he kept telling her about how she wasn't the first reluctant student that the Armstrong family had taken on, describing how other students had made different escape attempts – all of which had been blocked and foiled. He was clearly telling her not to have any hope of escaping from the home that they had, not just because they took extra security measures, but also because they had their own private guard available, though it was only a couple of military buddies from the days of Armstrong's father. So, they were basically telling her, "This is your new prison. Get used to it." While the food said, "But be glad it's better than your old one."

Of course, Amelia had no intentions of escaping. She intended to cooperate fully, even if her lessons were going to be completely ridiculous and full of pointless information because really, who practices alchemy anymore?! She didn't understand why this family had become so fixated on it, as well as a few other traditions and god knows how many more they had and weren't telling her about. She attributed it to their weird desire to keep up those traditions, and also the weird culture that everyone else around her seemed to agree with.

Her lesson with Major Armstrong lasted about 4 hours, and they had barely made a dent in her lessons of Armstrong history. When she heard a bell, and Major Armstrong had paused in his lesson, she looked up at him. "Well, I suppose that's enough for today." He said, closing the book, "It's a pity we couldn't get to the next generation of Armstrong family. Ernest Walter Armstrong's daughter and son, Gertrude Alexandria and Phillip Clinton Armstrong, made incredible strides in the realm of alchemy. But I suppose you'll learn about that tomorrow."

"Thank God…" Amelia muttered under her breath, stretching out her limbs as she got up from her admittedly comfortable seat. No matter how soft the cushion, though, she still had a sore ass. She looked out some of the windows as they walked out of whatever room it was that she had been learning, honestly she hadn't remembered if he called it a drawing room or a conference room because she had never heard of any family being rich enough to have both. As she looked out, she saw that the sun was just starting to set. It seemed the Armstrong family liked to have an early dinner. She wasn't about to complain, though. After having that food last time, she was glad to get some more. Especially after comparing it to the prison food she'd been eating for the last day or so.

Once again, the entire family was there, and it all seemed like polite conversation. Amelia didn't really listen as she started eating her roast chicken dinner. If she had listened in, she would have heard about Amue and Strongine's martial arts lessons, as well as Catherine's progression in her strength training, as the Armstrong family must raise strong women. She would have also heard about how Major Armstrong had been formally excused from a manhunt for Isaac McDougal in Central because of the fact that he had permission from the Fuhrer to take the time off to teach Amelia. But again, this was all spoken without her really listening, as she was thinking of how in the world a dead art like alchemy could be something learned through genealogy.

"…Amelia?"

She poked her head up to see Catherine looking over at her, "What? Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"Oh, it's alright." She smiled, "You must have a lot on your mind after your first alchemy lesson."

Amelia scoffed, "Yeah, if that's what you want to call it."

She forgot that she was sitting next to the major and he turned to look at her, "What do you mean by that? I thought my lesson was rather informative. We got through most of the first and second generation of the Armstrong family."

"Yeah, but it had nothing to do with alchemy." Amelia said, turning back to him, having to tilt her head up to look at him because of his height, "If you wanted to give me a lesson in your family genealogy, bravo. But it had nothing to do with the actual reason I'm here. Even if it's the most ridiculous reason in the world."

"What do you mean by ridiculous?" There wasn't any sort of offense in Major Armstrong's tone. He was genuinely curious by what she meant.

"I'm here for alchemy lessons. That in _itself_ is ridiculous. Alchemy is a dead science. It's pointless. No one uses it!" Amelia said, voicing her thoughts from the last few hours, "Alchemy was the father of chemistry and that's all it ever did. It's long-since been dead."

"Well, now _you_ are the one that sounds ridiculous." Major Armstrong said, "The country of Amestris has been a long-standing alchemical super power! One of the greatest in the world!"

Amelia scoffed, "I bet _any_ country can be a superpower in something that doesn't work."

In the background, she could hear a phone ringing, and soon a maid came into the doorway of the dining room. "Apologies for my intrusion, but Master Alex has a phone call from Central Headquarters." She said.

Her interruption seemed to be the thing that ended the conversation between Amelia and Armstrong, for the moment anyway. She didn't look up as he went to answer the phone and went back to eating her roast chicken.

"Yes, this is Major Armstrong… Ah, I see… how many? That's quite a spree… Yes, I'll be there at once." He hung up the phone.

"Who was it, Alex?" Catherine asked once he walked back in.

"That was the colonel. It seems I've been called back in on the McDougal hunt." He said gruffly.

"Oh, but you only just started to eat." Josephine said morosely, "You should at least take some food before you go. How unfortunate that you got called in to work at dinner."

"Yes, but I'll be alright without for now." He turned to his new pupil, "And Amelia, I think you should come with me."

She choked on the piece of chicken she was eating. She coughed, pounding at her chest until she was able to hack it back up. She looked back at him with an expression of exasperation and surprise. "What?! Why? I'm eating!"

"I think this will be a good hands-on lesson for you in alchemy." He replied calmly, pulling out her chair.

"I thought we were done with lessons for today!" Amelia said, a whine in the undertone of her voice.

"Yes, but after what you've just said, I think this will be an excellent teacher in respect for the alchemical art that has been passed down the Armstrong family for generations!" He said, reaching down to pull her up out of her seat. Amelia let out a small yelp as he grabbed her underneath her armpits and managed to _hold her in the air holy fucking shit she couldn't touch the ground_. "Now, we'll take the car to—"

" _Put me down_!" Amelia nearly screamed at him, "I refuse to be carried like a fucking child! If you're going to drag me somewhere, drag me on my feet god damn it!" His eyes widened, both at her tone of voice and her language and he set her down on the floor, watching as she straightened out her clothes with a huff. She turned to him with an angry glare, "I am _not_ a child! So don't treat me like one!"

"I won't." He promised. There was a heavy silence as Amelia went over to her dish on the table, grabbing one last bite of chicken before she marched out of the dining room, obviously angry about having to be pulled away from her meal to go on an unnecessary field trip. "My goodness… what a temper." Armstrong said to himself as he walked out with her, heading to the car that was going to take them to the borders of the town to start their search.

* * *

Amelia could think of a million reasons to complain right now.

She was hungry.

It was cold out.

Her feet hurt.

Her stomach was empty.

The sun kept blinding her.

Seriously, it was cold out.

She did not need to be wearing handcuffs again! Did he seriously think she was going to attempt an escape?!

Well, maybe just those few reasons, but she could find a way to reword them and get it to a million later. But right now, she had been forbidden from speaking as Armstrong insisted on her being silent as they searched the city, mostly because they didn't know where McDougal was hiding, and talking would have given away that they were there. So, instead, she let out yet another exasperated sigh. It had been going on for the past half hour or so.

As they walked down the different streets, which were surprisingly silent, Armstrong stopped as he came to an alleyway. His stop was so sudden that Amelia ended up bumping into him. "Hey, why'd—?!"

Armstrong held up his hand, which bore a strange pair of spiked, metal gloves with weird patterns on them. She didn't know why he needed them so badly, but she wasn't going to ask. She had had enough explanations of the Armstrong family's traditions for one day. He turned around, putting his hands on her shoulders, whispering to her, "Stay here, and don't make a sound."

"Okay, whatever." She whispered back to him, watching as he went into the building next to them and went inside, moving slowly as he got to a certain point in the wall. Amelia stood in the doorway of the place, slowly shaking her head at his ridiculous need to be so accurate. Then he took his gloved hand and smacked it into the wall. Amelia saw the blue flash that came from it, and jumped when she heard the sudden thuds of wall moving, reforming quickly into something else and hitting the other side of the alley, making dents in the cement wall that looked like something had been sucking it through on the other side. She also heard the sound of footsteps moving back through the alley.

"Impressive reflexes, Isaac!" Major Armstrong said, "You are able to dodge my alchemy so easily!"

"I know that voice." The man, Isaac, said gruffly, "Is that you, Armstrong?"

Amelia jumped as she saw him punching through a brick wall, shouting, "Indeed! None other!" He punched it again with his other hand and Amelia couldn't help letting out a small shriek as the wall seemed to collapse and made an entrance way for him. As he started marching his way in, Amelia went over to the hole, leaning forward a bit to watch him as he said, "It is I – the Strong Arm Alchemist, Alex Louis Armstrong in the flesh!" He was speaking to a big – though not as big as Major Armstrong – man that wore the same kind of uniform that he did, only one of the sleeves was ripped.

"Ah, shut it!" Isaac snapped, slamming his hand down on a puddle of water. There was a similar blue flash like before, and Amelia's eyes widened as she saw the water rising up quickly, shooting forward like a thin wall and cutting through some of the spikes that Armstrong had made.

"Jesus Christ…!" She muttered under her breath. What was this?! How were they doing this?!

"I've always wanted to chop that ego down to size!" Isaac's yell brought her attention back to the moment and she saw him raising his hand, a little tattoo on his palm glowing as the water rose up again, heading straight for Armstrong.

"Except you'll need far more than water to _quench my fists_!" Armstrong said, punching into the wall again, the circle on his glove glowing before a flash spread out. Amelia jumped back, shrieking again as an explosion rang out, knocking her onto her back and left her ears ringing. When she managed to get back up on her feet, she looked into the hole to see what was going on. This was apparently when Isaac noticed her, and she froze a bit, thinking his gaze was a malicious one. She looked away from him, down at the ground where she noticed some stone heads of Armstrong were laying. Her face contorted into a rather confused and aghast frown as she stared at them. Was he really so vain as to use his own face as a weapon?

"Major!" She looked up when she saw two more people – a young blonde guy in a red coat that couldn't have been much older than her, and a guy in a giant suit of armor – came running to the other side of the alley. Isaac looked back, throwing an open canteen at them. She saw it sparking like the other things had before, and it exploded into a cloud of hot steam. She covered her face from it, able to feel the heat from so far away, even though it hadn't touched her. She knew that it was boiling hot. She heard a clang of metal and footsteps as Isaac must have run away. As the steam started to clear and became a bit more bearable, she heard someone speaking up.

"Water from his canteen, huh? Thanks for the quick save, Al." Someone said. It must have been the blonde guy in the coat, because she could see the hunched over back of the suit of armor that must have been the clang she heard when it took the brunt of the explosion.

"Let's go, he's getting away!" The one in the suit of armor said, Amelia was shocked to hear such a young voice coming from it.

"Come then," Armstrong said, going up to their side, "After me, Elric Brothers."

"Right!" The two of them said.

"Amelia!" He turned to call to her, "Hurry now!"

"Ah?! Uh, coming!" She jumped when he suddenly called on her and she ran through the hole, grimacing a bit as she ran through the hot humid cloud of steam that lingered as she ran after Armstrong and the other two. As they ran out to the street, they couldn't see much, it seemed that Isaac had taken the first chance he could to disappear. She panted for breath as she tried to keep up with the three of them, her handcuffs rustling and clicking in time with her pounding footsteps as they ran down the nearest alley.

"Major, who's that girl?" The blonde asked as he ran behind him.

"That's my newest pupil, Amelia!" Armstrong said, "As given to me by the Fuhrer himself!"

"Fuhrer…? Wait, _you're_ the one that took on the trespasser?!" He asked in disbelief.

"Hey! I'm right here!" She snapped at them between breaths, "And I… didn't trespass shit!"

They ran around the block, and then Armstrong stopped. "I've lost him."

"Oh, no." The armor said.

"Damn it!" The blonde said.

"Oh my God I can't breathe." Amelia said as she slowed to a halt, leaning against the wall. "I haven't run like that in years. Jesus Christ." She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and hear it in her ears. She bent over, wanting to rest her hands against her knees, but the handcuffs only allowed one hand to rest on them when her feet were apart. She looked up at him, "And what the _fuck_ was that back there?!" She went over to him with wide eyes.

"Please watch your language, Amelia." Major Armstrong said.

"There were all those explosions and shit, your giant head showing up out of fucking nowhere!" She ignored his request as she spoke to him with wide eyes, still shocked from the event, "How the fuck did you do that?!"

"That was alchemy." He said it was if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"The fuck it was!" She snapped, "Alchemy doesn't do steam clouds and busted walls and explosions! It's sitting at some desk trying to turn lead into gold!"

"What made you get that idea?" The blonde asked, and Amelia turned to him.

"And who the fuck are _you_?!" She nearly screeched, making him jump back, "Why the fuck are _kids_ here?! Why the fuck am _I_ here?!"

"Miss Seymour, calm down." Armstrong spoke softly in an attempt to make her less hysterical. "I don't think getting in an agitated state when you're already tired is a good idea."

"I'm a lot more than fucking agitated! What the hell is going on?!"

"We are hunting Isaac McDougal. If I had known your reaction to seeing combat alchemy, perhaps I should have left you in the hands of guards." He said patiently.

"Fuck the guards!" Amelia snapped at him. "You pulled me away from a perfectly good meal to put me into a war zone!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have decided to take training from the major, then." The blonde spoke up. Amelia turned to him with a vicious glare.

" _Are you part of this conversation?!_ " Her snarl was enough to make him jump back a little, "You have _no_ place to speak, so shut the hell up!" She stumbled a bit as she found that she was getting dizzy. Had she been breathing this hard the whole time?

"Miss Seymour, please." Armstrong said slowly, getting her attention, "This can't be good for your health, just take a deep breath and calm down." She took his advice, taking in a slow breath, feeling her head clearing up some and then she turned to him, "If this bothers you, I can take you back to the estate, but I'm afraid you'll be in the hands of guards for the whole time."

"So?" In a place like that, she doubted a couple security guards were a bad thing.

His eyes widened a bit, "I didn't think you would be so keen to returning to a single room after your time in prison."

"Hey, your rooms have _got_ to be better than any prison cell." She replied, "You have an actual bed."

"Very well, then. I'll take you back to the estate." Amelia followed him out of the alleyway, with the blonde kid and the armored one following behind her. She looked back at them over her shoulder, giving them a suspicious look before she focused back on the Major. "I suppose I should have thought this through a bit more, you're not entirely prepared to join me in this, even if it would be at a distance."

"You think?" Amelia replied dryly.

"Still, I hope this small glance of alchemy has given you an idea of what exactly you could pursue." Armstrong looked back at her, pausing in his steps as he waited for her to catch up beside him, "There are many different kinds of alchemy, all of which are valuable to our nation in any and every situation."

Amelia was quiet for a moment, looking down at her handcuffs and then back up at him, "That was all really alchemy back there?" She was still having a hard time believing it. "I haven't really seen anything like that before. I mean, it was like…" It was almost like they were superheroes or something.

"Well, I can expect that from someone who's never experienced alchemy before." Armstrong replied with a pleased chuckle, "But I assure you, alchemy is a great science with incredible attributes that can be used for any purpose."

"I guess." She said, she looked around the streets, "So, I'm guessing we're taking a cab back to the estate?"

"Hm? No, taxi services aren't available right now. With McDougal on the loose, they've been shut down, many people have been told to remain inside their homes."

She let out an exasperated sigh, "Awesome…"

The blonde looked at her oddly, "What? The idea of walking there is so terrible to you? It's not that far."

"Didn't I tell you to shut the hell up?" She glared at him over her shoulder. She looked up at the one in the armor for a brief moment and then back at him. What an odd pair they made, especially with the smaller one wearing clothes like that… "You know that coat is gaudy as fuck, right?"

"Hey! My coat is badass!" He replied, "It's awesome, red gets the blood pumping!"

"It also makes you look like a forgotten piece of pepperoni. You need to change up your style, dude." She looked back up at the suit of armor, giving him a very obvious once-over glance, "I'm not even sure where to start with you."

"You leave him alone." The blonde glared back at her with just as much ferocity as she had given him, even more. She gave her usual huff of 'whatever' and turned back to face her front. "Don't judge us when you don't even know us."

"Oh, like you're not judging me right now." Amelia turned back to him, "You can call me a bitch all you want in your head, but at least I don't hide away the fact that I'm rude. So we're even."

In front of them, Armstrong let out a small sigh in disappointment. He had hoped for a much more… optimistic and hopeful student, but it seemed he had made his own bed with this one. Maybe he could get her to spend more time with Catherine, she always had a way of rubbing off her kindness onto people.

He stopped when he saw a blue uniform in the distance, his body tensing up and preparing for battle, but as they got closer, he realized it wasn't Isaac McDougal, but someone else. They rushed up to him, heavily panting for breath for a brief moment before saluting him.

"Major Armstrong, sir! We need your help over in the eastern quadrant!" He said, his voice cracking a bit, showing how young he was, "McDougal's done some damage to a few buildings and more than a few soldiers and we need an alchemist's help."

"I see…" He turned around, "Edward, Alphonse, can you help them while I return Amelia to the estate? It shouldn't be too long before I'm able to get back in action."

"Sure, Major." The two rushed ahead and followed the man down to another part of town, running at top speed, leaving the major and Amelia behind. As they started walking again, Armstrong spoke up.

"You shouldn't be so rude to those two, they're a pair of the strongest alchemists I've ever seen." He told her.

"That guy can't be any older than me." Amelia said, "And I doubt he's much stronger than you, with all that steroid abuse you've been going through."

"Edward Elric, the one in the coat, is the youngest State Alchemist in Amestrian history, receiving his certification at age twelve. He's a prodigy in every respect of the word, and though you two may be the same age, he is far ahead of you. You should learn to show respect to your superiors."

"He's a teenager, big freaking whoop. Unless he does something world-changing by the time he turns 30, no one will remember him."

"That's rather cruel to say."

"The _world_ is cruel."

He let out another disappointed sigh, "Perhaps we should include disciplinary lessons in your training, or at least find a way to change your worldview."

Amelia only scoffed, saying nothing. She didn't think her views were going to change in however long she was going to be here. She planned to find her own way home before she got too invested into anything around here. As interesting as it would be to learn alchemy, she had a life planned out for herself back home, something that was sure to make her happy all on her own, with no one else. She would be incredibly successful, with no one clamoring for her attention and her approval just to get close to her money. And there wouldn't be any family to weasel it out of her, either. At most, she would have a pet or two, maybe a couple guard dogs, and staff to take care of the little things, too. She was going to become everything her parents wanted for her, and even more than that.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a scream and a sudden boom, her and the major turning their heads to see a cloud of steam rising up over a building. "What was that?" She asked.

" _Isaac_!" Armstrong charged in the direction of the cloud, and Amelia was quick to hurry after him. She didn't know the way back to the estate without him!

* * *

Amelia panted, leaning against the wall as she finally caught up to the major, seeing him talking to a lower-ranking officer. The man ran so fucking fast for his size! You'd think he'd be at least hindered by the muscle mass, but he's just fast in general. Or maybe she was really out of shape - either way, he was faster than her and she actually lost him for a little bit back there.

As she got closer, there was a very distinct sort of smell in the air that smelled both appetizing and repulsing because it was so strong. She covered her nose as she came up to him. She looked around to see there were more than a few soldiers running around them, and she wondered what all the fuss was until she saw them all crowding around something. She didn't see much, other than the profile of the person there, but their skin was a bright red shade, with steam still coming off of him, withered into his uniform, looking like he had been pushed into a vat of boiling oil, some of his skin even had bubbles on it. It made her sick to look at it so she turned her head away from the sight of it.

She looked up as someone came over to her, looking up to see Armstrong standing in front of her. "I'm afraid I can't afford to send you back to the estate yet. It seems Isaac McDougal is on a spree." He looked back over at the body, "That was Private Michael Jensen. He was going to be married in less than a month. His fianceé is expecting his child, no less."

"That's… terrible." Amelia said, refusing to looking over at the body. "Who's going to tell his fianceé?"

"One of the other soldiers will deliver the news sometime tonight." He said, "I'm going to have to ask you to put up with our search, this is the third man he's killed today alone."

"Yeah… Yeah, alright." Amelia sighed. She wasn't going to like it, but she'd deal with it. She had to admit that it was pretty… insane that this McDougal guy was killing so many people with so little thought, except for how to kill them. "What… what happened? Why is he all red and…"

"He was boiled alive from the inside." Armstrong answered solemnly.

Amelia felt her stomach curl at the words. Boiled alive from the inside? She kept her hand over her mouth to try to block out the smell of steamed meat that was given off by the corpse, feeling queasy now that she knew why. She pictured herself in his place, her body burning inside, hotter and hotter until she couldn't stand it, and hotter still.

"God, that's _sick_." She said, turning her head away from it.

"Here, let's get you out of here, we need to return to the hunt for McDougal." Armstrong said, placing his hand on her shoulders and directing her away from the soldiers, far enough that the scent was gone, but she still kept her hand over her nose and mouth. She still felt like the smell lingered in her own skin, on her clothes.

She walked with Armstrong until the sun started to set, both of them searching for any sign of the madman, but there wasn't any sign of him as far as they could tell.

* * *

Night came, and it was around this time that Amelia was starting to wonder if they would find this guy before it got too late for whatever he was planning. He had killed seven men in total all over the city, soldiers were scrambling all over, spreading out everywhere to find him, to the point they were actually spread pretty thin. Armstrong worried about this, mentioning it to Amelia, saying that he hoped someone found Isaac before anyone else died, or he enacted whatever plan he had in mind.

Amelia turned her head when she saw a beam of sudden red lightning shooting up into the sky, followed by another, and another, and another, turning all around them into a circle of red columns. She felt a chill go down her spine as she stared at it, and then she felt the air turning much colder, starting to shake and she found herself struggling to keep her balance as the ground shook underneath her.

"What is this?! An earthquake?!" She asked over the rumbles.

"I fear it's far worse than a mere earthquake!" Armstrong said. Behind them, they heard strange crumbling sounds, as if someone was breaking apart a multitude of smaller stones with a bigger one, and she heard unusual echoes, as if something was hitting against… well, she wasn't sure what, but it made her uneasy. She watched with wide eyes as massive glaciers - real glaciers! - grew up out of the ground and were moving through the city. She watched as they grew, turning to giant walls of ice that towered over the tops of every building she could see.

She let out a shriek when she was suddenly picked up and tucked underneath Armstrong's arm as he ran down the street.

"What are you doing?!" She screamed at him, squirming in his arms.

"I'm taking us into the heart of battle!" Armstrong said, "We need to stop this as soon as we can. Alchemy on this large of a scale can never lead to good things!"

"I was talking about _me_ , goddamnit!" Amelia snarled at him, "Put me down! I don't want to be carried like a toy poodle!"

"Just bear with me for a few moments longer!" Armstrong said, "This method of long-distance sprinting has been passed down the Armstrong family for generations!"

" _I don't care!_ " She shouted as they ran past other soldiers, finally getting put back on her feet as they got to what looked like some kind of main square, with a giant wall of ice headed straight for them. "Oh my god." Armstrong fastened his gloves, looking determined and assured of himself as he made sure they were on tight.

"Stand back and prepare for a display of Armstrong alchemy!" He said, striking a pose as the ice came closer, Amelia seeing the two weirdos from before sprinting to get out of its path.

"He's all yours, Major!" The blonde yelled as he rushed past him and stopped around Amelia, who was frozen stiff (poor choice of wording there) as she watched the icy wall come closer and closer.

" _Witness the alchemic art passed down the Armstrong line for generations!_ " He shouted, his gloves glowing with alchemical charge and power. He pulled his fist back as the ice got closer and closer and way too much closer before he punched it. The crater he made in the wall was huge! But it wasn't enough as only a second after he had stopped it, the wall changed direction, shooting out perpendicular to the original direction and going straight through an office building, with civilians running and screaming in panic. Amelia's eyes were wide as she stared at all of this, her mind blank as she witnessed these huge displays of power.

Armstrong looked at the newly growing ice wall with a surprised, and disturbed stare. "That's unexpected."

"What the heck are you doing?!" Edward screamed at him, "You're making it worse!"

Armstrong stuttered over his words as he tried to make an excuse, only to be cut off as a wall of ice crashed through a building behind them. Amelia turned around to watch it go straight through, feeling the ground shake as more of them formed, towering over buildings and higher into the sky.

"The ice walls!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"They're merging…" Edward looked over them, his mind quickly calculating their combined routes.

"But… that would mean…" Alphonse looked over them, doing the same.

"If they all meet in the middle… ah, damn it! It's Central Command!" Edward finished his brother's thought.

"He's gonna freeze it over? Why?" Amelia asked, the first words to leave her mouth since she had been put down. The others nodded, finding this a moment to act rather than keep talking.

"Major!" Edward turned to Armstrong, "Al and I will try to slow him down, can you handle the transmutation circles?"

"Consider them erased." Armstrong promised. "I'm on it. Hurry, Amelia!" He grabbed his student by the shoulder and picked her up, making her shriek again as he ran with her over his shoulder to follow the trail left behind from the ice wall, trying to find its point of origin. Amelia was actually so shocked by all of this, she didn't scream at the major to put her down. Her eyes followed along the ice, seeing her distorted reflection in its side as Armstrong kept running. "Here!" He came to a stop at the front of an alley, which was completely blocked by ice. "We'll need a way to get through it…"

They both jumped when they heard a sudden explosion, Amelia looking up to see a bright flash of orange in the distance on another wall. "A-ha! Perfect!" Armstrong ran in the direction of the explosion, coming across a platoon of soldiers hiding behind a wall of sandbags, in front of them stood someone else, who was snapping his fingers, explosions going off that burned through the ice with ease, but it kept growing back.

"Colonel Mustang!" The major saluted him, his voice getting the attention of the dark-haired man, still carrying Amelia on his shoulder, who was only able to look at everything behind him. She looked over to see a blank-faced blonde woman holding a suitcase, she seemed to be giving her a look of what she guessed was… pity? It was so subtle, she could hardly tell. "If I might ask your assistance in destroying one of McDougal's circles, we've found one but can't break through the ice."

"Oh yeah?" He grinned deviously, "Bring it on, show me where it is. I'm gonna show this asshole what my flames are capable of!" Armstrong turned and started running, with Amelia facing the colonel for the first time. He was a moderately attractive man, with dark hair and eyes. He looked her up and down, not saying anything as he followed Armstrong to the spot where the circle was. The blonde woman was just beside him, still holding onto the suitcase. Armstrong put Amelia down once they were at the entrance of the alley, "Hawkeye, watch her."

"Yes, sir." The blonde woman said, taking her spot beside Amelia as the two alchemists approached the icy blockage. Amelia watched as Colonel Mustang stood in front of it, spreading out his hands as his fingers snapped, a huge explosion forming and destroying the ice. He turned to Armstrong once it was over.

"Major! Go now!" He ordered.

"Leave it to me! The Armstrong fists will not fail!" He shouted as he ripped through his shirt, striking another pose before he brought his fists down onto the ground, the alchemical reaction moving through as the ground was starting to quickly freeze over, but getting to the circle before it was too late, destroying the ground where it was drawn and breaking it.

The red columns of lightning suddenly died, and the ice stopped moving, the air already getting warmer.

Amelia was left in stunned silence as she watched to two of them talking about how they'll need to continue the search, though she wasn't really listening to anything that they said.

Was this really alchemy? This was supposed to be a dead science, but they were using it like explosives, like building demolishers. She couldn't really imagine it being so powerful, but here it was, right before her eyes being used as something like police-issue mace to take down someone else using it for their own purposes.

"I remember that feeling." She turned when the blonde woman spoke up. "Seeing alchemy like that for the first time." She was looking right at Amelia, "It's humbling, isn't it?"

"Yeah… that's one way to put it." To her, it was more terrifying than humbling.

After seeing these near superhumans saving their city from another one, something that had dawned on her during her interrogation only now started to really sink in:

This was a totally different world.


	5. The Calming Dust

_"No matter how injured you get to atrocities,_

_you're still always stunned and shocked by_

_how cruel and wasteful Homo sapiens can be."_

\- **Steven Pinker**

* * *

Amelia was quiet on the way home, much to the surprise of Armstrong. She didn’t say a word about the magnificent display of alchemy she had seen, nor did she ask any questions about it. Instead, the trip home was spent in silence - total silence. Amelia didn’t even complain about her handcuffs. The ride back home was a bit too quiet for Armstrong’s liking.

“So… do you understand the capabilities of alchemy now?” He asked, looking over at her as they sat in the backseat of the car.

“What?” She looked over at him, “Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

“I asked if you had a better understanding on the importance of alchemy for our country.” He said.

“Oh. Yeah, sure.” She moved her head back so that she was facing front, staring at the headrest of the seat in front of her. The major furrowed his brow a bit as he saw her response. Compared to how she was just a little while ago, this was a drastic change in character, she had been spitting sarcastic one-liners and spoiled rantings as if she breathed them, now she had hardly spoken a word.

“I understand that the first time seeing combat alchemy can be quite awe-inspiring.” He said to her, trying to help figure out what was wrong, “I hope you can understand the benefit this science brings to our nation.”

“Mm-hmm.” Was all she said in response.

“Well, it has been a long day. Perhaps you will feel better with some rest tonight.” He said, figuring that might be why she was acting like this.  

She didn’t argue, so he took that as a sign he was right. They rode back to the Armstrong estate in silence, with the major releasing her from her handcuffs once they reached the front door, escorting her inside. They were greeted by one of the family servants, who informed them that the rest of the family had already turned in for the night, but he was glad to inform the family of his return. Armstrong said he could, so long as it didn’t disturb their rest, and that he would take Amelia up to her room for the night.

The hallway was lined with the softest carpeting, the walls covered in a luxurious red and gold wallpaper, all of it lined with portraits of Armstrong family members, or elegant paintings. Neither of them said a word as he brought her to her room, opening up the door to reveal a rather large bedroom, that was covered in a similar plush carpet as the hallway, with antique furniture that had been polished to look like it was brand new, with a door off to the side that Armstrong explained was a personal bathroom for her use. There were massive windows along the wall that had velvet curtains, which were currently closed so the room was only lit by a few dim, yellow lanterns that seemed much darker in the room at this time of night.

“I’m sure you will find it more comfortable than a prison cell.” Armstrong said, trying to make the situation a little more jovial than it was at the moment. Amelia still didn’t really say anything as she went over to the bed and sat down on it. The comforter was goose-down, so it was extra soft and warm in comparison to whatever blanket she had in prison. He looked at her a bit concernedly, watching as she just sat down, staring at the floor for a little while. Just staring down without saying a word, he didn’t take this as normal, but he tried to contribute it to her just being tired. “You should know that the windows have been locked as a security measure, so you won’t escape. And the door will be locked as well, you will not be able to leave this room until someone wakes you in the morning.”

“Yeah, alright.” Amelia said, it figures that even though this cell is considerably nicer than the one she was in before, it was still a prison cell.

“There are nightclothes in the dresser for you.” Armstrong said, pointing to the dresser on the other side of the room, “And a few other clothes as well, many of them used to be Catherine’s, but I believe they will fit you well enough until such a time as we can find you a more suitable wardrobe.” Amelia just nodded and he awkwardly returned the gesture, “Well, then… good night.”

“Good night.” Amelia looked up as she watched the major close the mahogany doors to the bedroom, hearing a lock click in place before he walked away. She didn’t really know what else to do now. She slipped her feet out of her shoes and crawled into the goose down bed, slipping underneath and bringing the covers up to her chin, still fully dressed in her two-day old clothes. She just wanted to sleep and forget about all of this, all the weird, god-like abilities that she had seen today, on top of knowing that she needs to learn that in order to stay out of prison. The idea of being that powerful had its appeal, sure, but she had a feeling that with these kinds of people, she was _way_ out of her league.

* * *

Amelia was quiet on the trip to the hospital, not really saying much. She was starting to get used to her wooden handcuffs now, it seemed, though hopefully she wouldn’t have to wear them for much longer whenever she went out in public. Her lessons in alchemy were to officially start that afternoon, but her teacher wanted to pay a visit to the Elric brothers in the hospital, saying something about a cure-all method _that’s been passed through the Armstrong line for generations!_ She was starting to wonder if that was his catchphrase or something. He also wanted her to apologize for her rude behavior yesterday towards them. She figured it wasn’t really that important since she likely wasn’t going to see them again, but she agreed to it. Which was why she was carrying the bouquet of roses, and not her teacher, as they walked down the sidewalk from where the car had been parked.

“Hopefully, I’ll never need to see you in here, Miss Seymour.” Armstrong said as they walked in, “Though you can be comforted in knowing that the hospital is only a short drive away from the estate.”

“Yeah, sure.” She muttered, looking away from him.

He looked back at her over his shoulder as he walked, “You’ve been very quiet since yesterday.”

“Can you blame me?” She asked, looking up at him, “I saw you rip apart walls, and I saw some guy try to freeze over the whole damn town. Then there was that… explosion dude.”

“Do you mean Colonel Mustang?” Armstrong asked.

“I guess, I don’t know his name.”

He let out a hum, turning to the nurse at the front desk, “Excuse me, where are the Elric brothers located? We’re here for a personal visit.”

“Just a moment, let me check.” The nurse said before she started looking through some different files for a few minutes, and then back at him, “Edward Elric is up on the second floor, room 222.”

“Thank you.” He started walking towards the stairs and Amelia followed after him. “I understand this might be daunting for you, but I can assure you that the Armstrong method of teaching is infallible and I am certain of your future success.”

“Thanks.” She said, readjusting her arms as she carried the bouquet, her handcuffs clattering a little bit. He was a little disappointed over her monosyllabic answer, but she did seem open to learning, and that was something good, he supposed. He walked with her up the stairs, making sure she was still in sight, though she didn’t seem eager to run away. The walk up to the room on the second floor was quick, and Amelia could hear some murmurs of the people inside talking to each other before Armstrong opened the door, pushing Amelia in first with the bouquet.

She saw the blonde kid from the day before sitting up in bed, dressed in a hospital gown, and she could see some bandages on his shoulder underneath it if she looked hard enough. The one in the armor was sitting next to the bed, seeming to be perfectly fine. They both looked up at Amelia when she came in, though their expressions turned into a mixture of surprise and dread when Major Armstrong loomed over her head behind her.

“Greetings, Edward Elric.” He said eloquently, pronouncing every letter perfectly as he greeted him, “When I heard you were here in the hospital, _I dashed right over!_ ” He pushed Amelia forward, “And I brought my student Amelia as well, to see to your health!” She felt his hands going underneath her arms in preparation of lifting her up to display her, and she let out a protesting groan and he pulled his hands away, “And it is as I suspected, you are in desperate need of my assistance.” Amelia heard some shuffling, and then she felt Armstrong’s coat and shirt falling on top of her head, and the boys let out screams of horror. She looked back to see he had shed his clothes to expose his very muscular torso and started posing. “You need the example of a perfect physical specimen to inspire your recovery!” He looked over at the two horrified boys as well as Amelia gaping in disbelief and smiled, “You see? You’re looking livelier already!” He let out a hearty laugh, thinking it was working.

Edward shouted, “Will you get out?!”

At the same time Amelia shouted, “Are you fucking kidding me?!” Her voice was the one that caught the majors attention, “You seriously bring me over here, make me carry a fucking bouquet of roses, just so you could pose for some dude at the hospital?! How can you possibly be so ridiculous?!” She brought her hands up into her hair in her frustration, only to knock them against her forehead and she let out a frustrated groan, causing her to drop the bouquet “Goddamn it…”

“Amelia, please watch your language.” He said, standing up straight, no longer posing. “And please pick up the bouquet, we can’t leave a mess for the people in the hospital.”

“Guess your new student still needs some discipline, Major.” Edward said.

Amelia glared at him, “You shut your mouth.” She bent down to pick up the bouquet. The major made a gesture with his arm, waving to the small night table next to Edward’s bed. When Amelia didn’t move, he awkwardly cleared his throat and made gesture again. She scowled but she got the message and made her way over to the table and put the bouquet down. She still glared at the blonde boy, who glared right back at her.

The major cleared his throat again, “Amelia, don’t you have something to say to Mr. Elric?” He said pointedly.

“You don’t have to talk to me like a child.” She snapped at him, turning her head to put her glare on him.

“Well, you sure act like one.” Edward said with a smirk.

“Brother!” Alphonse whispered to his brother, not wanting him to start something with this girl.

She turned to him with a glare, and she let a small smirk of her own grow on her face, “Better to act like a child than _look_ like one.”

Edward’s expression turned murderous, “Is that some kind of short joke?”

Alphonse quickly stood up, bringing his hands to Edward’s shoulders, letting out a nervous laugh, “Brother, calm down.”

“Was it a short joke?” Edward asked again, the two of them still glaring at each other.

“You tell me, _little_ man.” Amelia said, emphasizing the word to make him mad, jumping back when Edward nearly pounced on her, surprised at the level of anger he had as he reached his hands out for her, demanding that Alphonse let him go while the armored boy tried to get him to calm down. Major Armstrong put his hands on Amelia’s shoulders, pulling her back from Edward, for her own safety and so she wouldn’t antagonize him anymore.

“Amelia.” Armstrong’s tone was more firm this time, and she let out a reluctant sigh.

“Fine.” She muttered, looking up at Edward as he still glared angrily at her, trying to get out of Alphonse’s arms, “I’m sorry.” That made him pause for a moment, looking at her curiously, though it was clear he was still angry. After another nudge from Armstrong, wanting her to expand on that, she continued, “I’m sorry for being so disrespectful yesterday… And I guess today, too.”

“That’s better.” The major said, “I would like to also apologize as the one responsible for her.” Amelia rolled her eyes, while the Elric brothers listened, “I did not believe that discipline would need to be part of her alchemy training, but now I see very clearly that it is. So, beginning tomorrow, you shall join the Armstrong family official training regimen that all members of the Armstrong family endure to obtain this perfect form.” He flexed his muscles and Amelia actually looked a little horrified.

“Are you seriously telling me I have to do your P90X camp or whatever?” She asked.

“What’s that?” Armstrong asked, not understanding.

“Do I have to exercise with you?” She clarified.

“Yes!” He was thrilled at the prospect, “It begins in the early morning, so I hope you are prepared to be an early riser!”

“Oh, Jesus Christ…” She muttered, bringing her hands up to her face, knowing she was going to hate every moment of it - and she definitely didn’t want to make her body look like his in any way! She didn’t want muscles so massive she couldn’t see the bottom of her feet! “Please no, I promise to behave, but for the love of God do not try to make me look like you.” She begged him.

Edward started snickering and she glared at him, “Don’t think I won’t come over there and smack that smile off your face!” She snapped at him.

“Perhaps that’s enough for today.” Armstrong said, pushing her out of the room, picking up his shirt and uniform jacket, “We wish you the best, young Elric brothers and hope you get well soon!”

“Or drop dead.” Amelia muttered under her breath, and no one heard her. She walked out with the major back to the estate, watching as he dressed himself in the walk down the hallway. “I will hate every second of working out with you.”

“Oh, don’t be so certain.” He said with a beaming smile, “Physical exercise helps improve the body and improve one’s overall condition! I’m sure you will enjoy it, the Armstrong family has spent generations perfecting the techniques to bring out the greatest potential in one’s body!”

She rolled her eyes again, “Yeah, like I haven’t heard that shit a hundred times already.” She said, “Is there any technique your family hasn’t perfected?” She was being sarcastic, but she was a little curious as well.

The major let out a hum as he tried to think, “I always believed our family’s recipe for apple pie was lacking, it does not have quite the same taste as one might find in a store.”

Amelia was surprised that the only thing these guys hadn’t managed to do right was pie making, but she shrugged, “Well, that’s something at least.” It was nice to know they didn’t think they were totally perfect as a family.

* * *

She went back to the estate, and everything seemed as normal as it would be. Armstrong spent another hour talking about his family tree before he managed to mention something even slightly related to alchemy, and Amelia could already feel herself drifting off. Seriously, she can’t learn anything from this stupidly pointless family history lesson! Yet still, he droned on and on about the illustrious Armstrong history until she felt like she was going to be bored out of her mind.

At some point, she didn’t know when, she closed her eyes, but she fell asleep at the table, and she was woken up by a rather large hand on her shoulder.

“I’m awake.” She said, assuring her teacher that she was up, looking in front of her, and seeing that the large man was gone. In front of her was a book that still depicted the Armstrong tree. She looked up at who had put their hand on her shoulder, and she saw it was one of the triplets that the Major had been born with. She jumped a bit as she looked up at her - it was still pretty jarring to look up at one of these sisters and see her teacher’s face, but they wore ornate dresses and had long, curly, blonde locks. “Oh… hey… Amue?” She hoped she had the right name.

“Strongine.” She corrected her, in a surprisingly (or perhaps not-so-surprisingly) deep voice. “Alex left, he had to go to work.”

“Oh.” Amelia looked down at the book, “Um… when did he leave?”

“An hour ago.” She said, moving to take a seat beside her, “He asked me to come and check on your studies.”

“Oh…” She knew what she was going to tell her, Strongine was going to lecture her about not listening to her teacher and avoiding her lessons. “Well, lay it on me, then. You’re mad that I fell asleep during your brother’s lesson, right?”

“Are you kidding?” Amelia was surprised to hear a bit of laughter coming from her, looking up and seeing how she smiled, “I’m surprised you didn’t fall asleep right away. I get pretty bored with these lessons, too.” She reached over with her massive hand to take the book from Amelia, looking over all the different portraits that had been drawn onto the page. It was so weird for Amelia to look at her, and basically see her teacher, with a humorous smirk on her face as she flipped through the pages. “My family tried to teach me this, too. I couldn’t do it, my father just has the most boring way of describing our family.” She looked over at Amelia, “Alex, on the other hand, idolizes our father, and everything in this family.” Strongine closed the book and set it in front of her. “We Armstrongs do have a long and illustrious history, but I was never good at remembering it all. And I’m not really one for sciences, either.”

“Me neither.” Amelia said, “I always kind of hated all the trouble that you have to go through with chemistry and equations and all that. Maybe if it was something more like biology I’d have an easier grasp of it, but… yeah.”

Strongine smiled at her, “You know, my father doesn’t want me really talking to you, considering that you’re a convict.” She said, “But what Father doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?” She reached over and pat Amelia on the shoulder, which almost knocked the girl into the table, but she smiled back at the muscular woman. It was nice to know that her teacher’s sisters weren’t clones of him.

“Yeah, it’s nice to have someone to talk to.” Amelia said, “So… I guess I need to keep studying.” She looked down at the book that depicted the family tree, grimacing a bit, but he wanted her to study…

Strongine was quick to close the book. “I have a better idea.”

* * *

Amelia watched as Strongine sat at the piano with her much smaller sister, Catherine, teaching her to play a new song. She had been invited to watch, since the girls had their piano lessons to do. She was sitting off to the side as she listened to the classical tune being played out in different keys as Strongine demonstrated for Catherine. She had been given some black tea and some finger sandwiches to snack on while she watched. It was definitely a bit more entertaining than reading through the family history of someone else, especially since she knew pianos much better.

“You’re doing great, Catherine.” Strongine praised her younger sister, who beamed brightly at her words, continuing to play the piece that Amelia had never heard before. She was so different from the seemingly mischievous woman who had spoken to her before. Strongine actually seemed to be rather sweet and caring, despite her intimidating appearance. At least, with her younger sister she was kind and caring. “Here, trying to widen your fingers a bit, you keep hitting this key.”

“I know, I know. It’s so difficult, my hands aren’t as long as yours, sister.” Catherine said. Amelia would have just said that Strongine’s hands were fatter, too, but she kept quiet.

“Your hands are fine as they are, Catherine.” Strongine assured her, “Keep playing. Even the smallest hands can create music.” Catherine nodded and kept at it, playing out the melody that was on the paper in front of her.

Amelia was quiet, watching the two sisters practice together, listening as they played out the notes to the tune up until a certain point where a sour note was accidentally hit, or a key was played off-rhythm, and Catherine started over again, or Strongine would show her how first. She could hear nothing but the sound of the piano in the ornately decorated parlor room, which was empty save for the three of them.

It reminded her of her piano lessons, how the teacher commanded the classroom into total silence when she was first teaching a new song to them. They would all get a chair that faced the piano, and they would sit, and they would watch as their teacher’s fingers flew over the keys and passionately played out the song as if it were the greatest in the world. She was a passionate woman when it came to music, so it was no surprise that she would be so enthusiastic about a new song to teach her students, however to listen to her play was something entirely different than hearing her talk about it, to Amelia, anyway.

When someone is passionate about piano, really passionate about it, the way that they played it was completely different than hearing them talk about it. The way their fingers pounded against the keys, creating a perfect melody that would sweep you away and make you picture such beauty in your mind’s eye, engulfing you in its sound, seeing the way their bodies swayed with the rhythm, as if they were putting everything they had into playing out the song as if it was their last stand against the world; this was what she considered perfection. And she always wanted to try to imitate that, to be that kind of perfect, even when she was a little child and she balanced piano lessons with ballet and painting classes that her mother had signed her up for. She didn’t want to do ballet, or paint pictures that would never be as good as someone else’s - but a song, no one can play the same song the same way, but everyone loves every interpretation of each song. That ability to please everyone, to have your way of playing and have everyone love it even if it’s a song they’d heard a hundred times before, that was her perfection.

“Amelia,” she was pulled out of her thoughts when the music stopped and Strongine called her name, “Do you want to try playing?”

“Sure.” She stood up from her chair to head over to the piano, Strongine moving to stand while Catherine remained seating. “Alright, let’s see what I can do here…” She started to play out Greensleeves over the keys, it was something she always ended up playing, and the melancholic melody was always kind of sweet, so she figured they might like to hear it. Catherine and Strongine were silent as they listened to Amelia playing, her eyes going over every key, making sure she hit each one in time, with just enough pressure to get out the sound she wanted. She was completely focused on her music, making sure she hit each one right to play out the first verse, and then she finished. She smiled when she was met with the sisters’ applause.

“How pretty! I never knew you played Amelia.” Catherine said with a bright smile.

“Yeah, I’ve been playing for years.” She replied, looking back at the keys, “I still take lessons, lots of songs to learn, though.”

“Well, the effort shows.” Amelia looked up to see Strongine was in tears, wiping at her eyes, “Forgive me, it was just such a moving melody. My emotions got the best of me.” She let out a heavy, shaky sigh and put her hand to her chest as she tried to calm herself, even fanning her eyes a bit. “What is it called? Did you write it yourself?”

“It’s called Greensleeves. It’s just a folk song.” Amelia said with a shrug, a little surprised that she had moved Strongine to tears. “Uh, you want a tissue or something?”

“No, I’m fine.” Strongine let out another sigh and she looked down at her, “Amelia, you have incredible talent, have you ever thought about performing?”

She shrugged, “I have recitals all the time, my piano school has them every year.”

“I meant a concert, have you ever performed a concert?” Amelia shook her head, “We’ll arrange one for you.”

“What?!” She moved to stand up from the bench, but ended up hitting her knees against the piano and fell back onto the stool, grabbing onto the keys and pounding her fingers down on a few hard notes before she looked back up at Strongine, “Why? You only heard one song! Concerts are supposed to be like, five or six songs.”

“Yes, but you played it so beautifully! I’m certain you can easily play out more songs if you tried.” Strongine said, “We Armstrongs have plenty of connections with the arts, our family has a long, illustrious history of being among the largest supporters of Amestris’s greatest composers and artists! I’m sure I could set up a concert for you in no time at all.”

“I don’t want a concert! I didn’t even play out the whole song!” Amelia said, moving to stand up (much more carefully this time since her knees still kind of hurt and she could feel her feet tingling a bit) “I don’t need to do that, I’ll be fine without one. Now before you try to convince me, I’m going to go and try to get some food.” She reached over for Catherine’s arm and pulled her up, “And since I’m not allowed to be by myself in your house, you’re coming with me.”

She dragged along the young woman, with Strongine trailing after them as Amelia went to make her way to the kitchen.

* * *

After a long time of trying to get Strongine off her case about performing in a concert, Amelia managed to get a little meal for herself. It was just a little snack that the Armstrong family chef team decided to make when she asked for a savory snack. She was hoping to find something like potato chips, but a small serving of assorted nuts worked, too.

The rest of the day was uneventful, other than just Amelia exhausting herself as Strongine took it upon herself to teach Amelia some of the songs she had been taught. It seemed that, when it came to whatever the Armstrong family was passionate about, they all had the same desire to pass it on for posterity’s sake. She sat through lessons with Strongine’s teaching and Catherine’s near constant encouragement for a couple hours until dinner was called. Her teacher wasn’t joining them because of some business at the military offices, which apparently wasn’t uncommon for him. The night before had actually been one of the rare occasions that he was able to join them for a meal.

It was surprising to hear of his work ethic, considering his eccentricity. In Amelia’s experience, the eccentric people she had known were people that could afford to be eccentric, and that normally meant some form of inheritance or winning the lottery. In the Major’s case, he could certainly afford to be eccentric, but he also had a surprising desire to actually better his home and nation, and he put in the work to do that. She probably shouldn’t be surprised, but she was.

Eventually, dinner ended and she was sent to her room for the night, with the doors locking up tight behind her to make sure there weren’t any escape attempts. She changed into some nightclothes, which she was very quick to discover were Catherine’s hand-me-downs because the… chest area of all the clothes was tailor made to be a lot bigger than her own. She didn’t complain about it, though. She got ready for the night and slipped into bed, letting out a sigh as she settled into the goose down covers again.

She still couldn’t quite get used to this place. The thought that she would be given the power to level buildings and reshape them to resemble her face was both thrilling and terrifying. Thrilling because anyone with that kind of power would be thrilled to do whatever they pleased with it, but terrifying because she knew it was for military purposes. She knew that, if she was given this power, she would likely be held on a tight leash under the control of different soldiers. So if she managed to get out of this and be able to not go to prison, she would probably still be imprisoned under the control of the government itself, at their beck and call to do whatever they asked of her. She would be their little attack dog, doing exactly as she was told.

The thought didn’t sit well with her, and she tossed and turned in her sleep all night long.


	6. Time to Get Buff, Cheeto Puff

_"Nothing lifts me out of a bad mood better than a_

_hard workout on my treadmill. It never fails._

_Exercise is nothing short of a miracle."_

**-Cher**

* * *

 

After a night of restless sleep, Amelia finally managed to get to sleep, and found herself very comfortable in the comforter and the mattress and she was able to really just relax for a while. 

And then the doors burst open with someone cheerily calling out, “Good morning, Miss Seymour!”

Oh

Hell

_ No _

She pulled the covers up over her head with a groan, trying to show whoever it was that was there she wasn’t interested. The woman didn’t seem to bother as Amelia could hear her talking as she walked around the room, “Master Alex has called for you to come down and join him and the rest of the family in the courtyard. I expect you will be joining them very promptly, once we have you all dressed and ready.” She said, and she heard the curtains sliding open, “And look at that, beautifully clear skies. It shall be a marvelous day for your training regimen, hm?”

Amelia didn’t respond, staying underneath the covers, just willing the woman to go away. “Now, now, no need to act like that.” She said, coming over the bed, yanking back the comforter, and Amelia groaned again, pulling the sheets up over her head stubbornly, keeping her eyes closed. The woman sighed, “Really, Miss Seymour. This is hardly becoming of a young lady.” She could feel her pulling up the sheets from the corners of the bed, but she held on to the sheets she had as tightly as she could, “You should be greeting each day with a smile, with optimism and the excitement of moving forward in your day!” The woman tugged on the sheet, but Amelia held firm. She was  _ not _ getting up after just getting to sleep. 

She heard the woman sigh, “You have a very tight schedule today, Miss Seymour. You’re not leaving me with many choices.” She spoke as if she was speaking to a kid throwing a tantrum. Amelia felt the bed shifting slightly, and then a bit more, and before she knew it, the bed was moving. She opened her eyes in time to yelp as she rolled off the mattress and tumbled onto the floor, wrapping herself up as she still clung to the sheets, the pillows falling on top of the nightstand. She sat up, wrapped up like a burrito in her bedsheets as she saw the mattress was actually lifted up and then brought down, and she actually got a good look at the woman who was there to wake her up. 

She was a big woman, though not as big as Strongine or Amue, but big more in the sense that she’s eaten some good food in her life, and had more than a few muscles from working hard. She had blonde curl sticking up from the rest of her hair that was held back in a bun, and she wasn’t too tall, actually kind of small, with tanned skin. She gave her a wide smile. “There, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“...Did you seriously just  _ lift _ the mattress to pull me out of  _ bed _ ?” She asked, amazed that the woman was able to lift up a mattress with her in it, by herself no less. It had to be a king-sized bed.

“Yes, and you need to get ready for the day, while I change out the sheets.” She came around the bed over to Amelia, picking her up to stand on her feet, still all wrapped up as she called out, “Delila! Diana! Come and ready Miss Seymour! It turns out she’s not the morning person we expected!”

Within seconds, a pair of twins were at the door. They looked almost exactly alike in uniform, except one had a beauty mark on her chin, and the other one had it on her upper lip. They both had red hair that was pulled back into a bun and dressed in lacy maid uniforms of black and white, unlike the woman that had forced her out of bed who just wore a blue dress and a white apron. The two of them quickly unwrapped her and looked her over. “Hmm… well, the shower can wait until after the training.” said one as she looked her over.

“I agree,” said the other, “We should get her dressed for the regimen and worry about clean up afterwards. Not much point in having her get clean only to get dirty right after.”

“Agreed.” said the first. They both grabbed her sides in the blankets and picked her up, quickly carrying her into the walk-in wardrobe of her room, despite her loud protests to being carried, and even more protests when she suddenly found herself stripped of pajamas while quickly dressed into something new. She swung her arms back and forth, trying to tell them that she could dress herself, but the twin maids wouldn’t hear of it, and seemed to completely ignore her as they maneuvered her back and forth in the closet, pushing her to lean back, and forward, lifting up her arms, and her feet, clothes coming off and suddenly covering herself again. And when they finished, they opened the wardrobe doors and smiled brightly at her as they said, “This way, Miss Seymour.”

She stepped out, completely redressed in what looked like an old white blouse, a skirt of somewhat… stretchy material, pantyhose, and a pair of cushioned shoes with a wide heel. “Jesus Christ, I look like my great-grandma’s portrait.” Amelia muttered as she looked down at herself. “What even is all this?”

“Your exercise clothes, Madam.” Said Diana, or maybe it was Delilah she wasn’t sure, “They used to be Miss Catherine’s, but she’s since  _ outgrown _ them.” When she said outgrown, she made a gesture to her chest, a half-circle motion that would outline a pair of rather big breasts, which Catherine certainly had.

“Puberty must have just bypassed that girl and left her with the good stuff.” Amelia said, looking down at her own body, which by comparison to Catherine’s, was hardly anything special, she looked almost dumpy in comparison to a perfect hourglass figure, though she wasn’t fat by any means, just a little bit of extra weight here and there, nothing too unhealthy, but she definitely didn’t have a flat stomach or enormous breasts like the prettiest sister (in her opinion) of the Armstrong family. 

“Come along now, Miss Seymour,” Delilah, or Diana, said as she hooked her arm with hers. “You mustn’t be late. The Armstrong family prides themselves on punctuality!”

“Among other things.” Said the other twin as she copied her sister, the two girls sharing a laugh at their inside joke that Amelia wasn’t entirely aware of, sleep still clinging to most of her senses. They started to drag Amelia out, with the young girl having a little trouble keeping up with their surprisingly big footsteps. They were a bit taller than her, it must come from having long legs, she figured. 

She was dragged through the manor until she was shuffled outside into a courtyard, where she could see her teacher, as well as all of his siblings and his parents waiting, stretching out their muscles. She was slightly horrified to see that the Major, as well as his potato-bodied father, were both shirtless and dressed only in a pair of short pants that traveled down to their calves. Strongine, Amue, Catherine, and their mother were all dressed like she was in different colored blouses, but essentially the same skirts and shoes. They had their hair pulled up into buns and ponytails.

When the Major noticed Amelia, he smiled brightly, “Ah, good morning, Amelia! Are you ready to begin your training regimen?”

“What fresh hell is this?” She asked through a voice still weighed down by sleep, “You wake me up before the goddamn  _ sun _ , and expect me to exercise?” She pointed to the sky, which was just starting to glow orange with the oncoming morning light, but the sun had yet to rise into the horizon. 

“This is the only time we can exercise as a family, I’m afraid.” The Major said apologetically, “My work schedule keeps me rather busy, so this is the only time we can carve out for our training regimen to keep our bodies in top physical condition, while also bonding together as a family!” He waved his arm to his family in a grand gesture, showing her how his father was posing for his mother, and how his sisters were helping Catherine to stretch far enough. 

“Okay, but in case you’ve forgotten, I am not an Armstrong. I am not part of this family.” Amelia responded dryly, in no mood for his eccentric behavior this early in the morning, “It is  _ five _ in the a.m. You can shove your training regimen up your muscled ass for all I care.” She turned around to leave, only to have her way blocked by Diana and Delilah, “Move,” She commanded them. They didn’t move.

“There is more to this training regimen than just exercise and bonding.” The Major continued, despite her reluctance to listen, “It should also teach you the necessary discipline you need.” 

“So this is a punishment.” Amelia said dryly, glaring at him over her shoulder.

“In this instance, yes.” He said, “I don’t like the idea, but I believe it’s necessary for you. So, you’ll start us off, won’t you?” He gestured to the path that lay in front of her, “This road goes all the way around the courtyard, on the whole, it’s length reaches a full five kilometers. You’re to run two laps around it, and we will be behind you.”

“Screw you, I’m not doing this.” Amelia snapped.

“If you don’t, I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to report your insubordination to my superiors, and I have no doubt that will significantly lessen your chances of being able to take the alchemy exam.” She looked at him with wide eyes as he kept going, “The military wants those that are willing to better themselves, to make themselves stronger and smarter, for the sake of the state and the people within it. If someone is entirely unwilling to bother… it doesn’t help their chances of becoming part of our state’s excellent forces.”

“Are you  _ blackmailing _ me?” Amelia asked, turning around to face him completely.

“I prefer to call it ‘giving you motivation.’” He replied.

“You sneaky little…” She was too tired to properly insult him like she wanted, she let out a groan, “Fine! But I won’t enjoy a second of it!” She went out in front of the family, who were all lined up behind her at some starting line that she couldn’t make out over all the limestone and gravel. “So, what, just two laps of jogging?” That didn’t seem terrible, at least… She could manage that. When the Major confirmed her question with a nod, she started jogging.

“Stop!” She stopped when he called out to her only a couple seconds after she started.

“What? I’m doing what you wanted.” Amelia snapped, confused and aggravated about his command to stop.

“Not in that form, you must get your knees up higher! Like so!” Armstrong demonstrated by showing how she should run as he ran in place, “Kick your knees up to your chest as if you’re kneeling down to meet royalty!” The rest of his family did the same demonstration, all of them getting their knees up higher than she had them. She watched them all bouncing up and down in almost perfect sync to demonstrate the ‘proper’ running form. She saw the Major, and his identical sisters all running together, and she could feel the combined weight of the three of them, as well as their father and mother, all leaving shockwaves that hit her feet as she stood there. It was kind of weird to watch them all do it together.

“Alright, already. I got it.” She said, starting to run with her knees up higher like they had demonstrated. She could hear them pounding their feet into the ground behind her as she ran, starting their training regimen. It wasn’t long until they caught up with her on the path, and soon started outrunning her. The father and mother were first, apparently they were the fastest among the family, with Strongine and Amue soon following. The Major stayed behind to keep pace on her right side, with Catherine coming up on her left.

“See? Can’t you feel the difference?” the Major said encouragingly, “Can’t you feel the muscles in your legs clenching harder? Can you feel your body already gaining a better, more perfect form?”

“Screw you, it’s too early for this shit.” Amelia snapped back.

“Don’t worry, the schedule was an adjustment for all of us at first,” Catherine said sweetly, “But you’ll get used to it in time.” She started picking up her pace and Amelia was left behind as Catherine ran ahead of her.

The Major followed his younger sister, saying, “I’ll see you at the finish line, Miss Seymour!” in a way that was so damn cheery Amelia found herself hating the Armstrong family a bit more than she did since they all seemed to be insufferable morning people that rubbed their expert fitness in her face.

Whatever, she could handle this. She wasn’t great with figuring out the metric system, but she figured ten kilometers couldn’t be so bad.

* * *

She was wrong. She was  _ so _ wrong.

Her lungs felt like they were burning with every breath she took, her legs felt like lead. Ten kilometers was not the metric equivalent to ten yards, holy  _ shit _ .

She was the last of the group to reach the finish line, and when she did, she bent over to rest her hands on her knees, taking in heaving breaths as she tried to come down from all the running she just did. That was like six miles. Six miles! She was not used to running so much. She felt like she was going to collapse. The Armstrong family was already waiting for her, stretching out their arms and legs as she tried to make sure she was able to stand.

“Wonderful! Well done, Miss Seymour!” The Major said, “That was an excellent warm-up run, was it not?”

“ _ Warm-up?! _ ” She would have screamed it out in her shock, but she couldn’t really get out more than a high-pitched wheeze at the moment.

“Yes, now we move on to weight training!” He said, gesturing to dumbbells that were being carried out by a bunch of the servants, all of them labeled somewhere between 75 to 100 kg on the sides of them. “This is your first time doing this, so we’ll start you off at 50 kilograms to see how well you hold up, and slowly move you up with the rest of us, hmm? Sound good?”

Amelia collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, only letting out a wordless groan in response as she took the time to close her eyes and catch up on the sleep she missed. Over the horizon behind her, the sun rose up a little bit higher, shining some light and giving her a little warmth to get comfortable in a she slept on loose gravel. 

* * *

In the end, it was decided that the Armstrong family would take it a little easier on Amelia since she couldn’t really take their warm-ups, which she was and wasn’t thrilled about. She was thrilled since they were going to be starting her off much smaller in the future, but she wasn’t thrilled that she had to keep doing it.

And this was alongside her alchemy training, if you could call it that. She was still being educated about the Armstrong genealogy, and they had just recently gotten to the people that were the Major’s great-great grandparents. So it was just going through their history and she might get to the actual thing she was supposed to study. She hoped there wasn’t going to be a test on this part, because she could do without a failing grade. 

She was currently in the middle of that lesson as Armstrong paced the luxuriously carpeted floor of the hall where he was currently in the midst of a passionate re-telling of one of his great-great grandfather’s stories about his boyhood. She was barely listening as she boredly stared at the chiseled portrait of said ancestor in the book that the Major had given her. He looked almost just like him, with the exception that he actually had hair… or at least a wig. The guy honestly looked like a buff version of George Washington with hair curled up and white and powdery. She didn’t really understand that style at all, but who was she to judge fashion of centuries past? She just wondered where the hell all these weird genes came from that made such massive men like the Major, and his sisters, while also managing to produce someone as pretty as Catherine - and also a few not-so-buff-but-still-attractive male ancestors whose portraits had popped up about three times now. Was there just something in the food they were eating, or some kind of dietary supplement? If there was something to make her as gorgeous as the youngest Armstrong sister, she wanted in. 

Amelia’s head perked up when she heard some voices outside the mahogany door that kept the room cut off from the rest of the house. She saw one of the maids opening the door, and she saw a familiar face making his way inside. 

A scruffy head and beard with some glasses and a big, friendly grin on his face all while dressed in uniform - Lieutenant Colonel Hughes.

“Major! Good to see you!” He cheerfully greeted the much larger man as he came into the room, interrupting the passionate story that he was telling, “How are the lessons going?”

“They are continuing with excellent progress.” The major said proudly, while Amelia eyed the paper sack that the Lieutenant Colonel had tucked under his arm as well as a blank file. “We’ve already covered the early generations of Armstrongs as they came into the glorious country of Amestris.” Amelia rolled her eyes at his words, Hughes noticed, but said nothing.

“Well, I hate to interrupt such a stirring lecture, but I would like to have a little talk with Amelia.” He said, “After all, I was told to come and inspect everything, Amelia’s progress and state of mind and all that, especially after her involvement in the McDougal hunt. Mind taking a break for a few minutes?”

“Not at all, I’m sure Amelia could use a break. As illustrious as the Armstrong family is, I’m sure a moment to relax is in order.” He said, giving permission, holding out a chair across Amelia that was originally meant for the Major, but he became so moved by the telling of his family tales that he had to get up and walk around.

Hughes gladly took a seat, and Amelia watched as the Major left them alone, and she let out a small sigh, feeling like she could breathe a bit, but when she saw her alternative, which was the man that first interrogated her, she wasn’t sure which one she disliked more.

He pulled out a file and a pen, there were a few blank sheets of paper, which already had some scribbles that she couldn’t read upside down. He shuffled a couple papers around, making sure he had everything in order. “So, how are lessons really going?” He asked, seeming to make friendly conversation, though Amelia was sure this was already one of the questions he was prepared to ask her.

“Ask me in a year when I’ve hung myself.” She replied dryly, not in the mood for making it seem like this was just a friendly conversation.

He let out a small chuckle, “Okay, I know the Armstrong family can be a little much--”

“-- _ That’s _ the understatement of the century.”

“Er… well, yes, but things can’t be so bad, right? It’s this or ten years in prison.” He said, trying to make it better for her.

“At this point, I think I’d rather take prison.” Amelia replied, slumping over the table and putting her head on top of her arms.

“Really? Because that can be arranged if you really want it.” He was teasing, but Amelia gave him a sharp glare that made his joking smile fall away, “I can see you’re not really in the mood for jokes right now. What seems to be the issue?”

“The issue is that he won’t shut up about his stupid family history, and I’m not learning a thing about actual alchemy, whatever the fuck  _ that _ is!” She snapped, “ _ And _ he’s decided that it’s a good idea to wake me up at five in the fucking morning to run  _ ten _ kilometers, and lift god knows how much weight, as part of a stupid training regimen.” She groaned and slumped over the table again, resting her head on her arms, “I’m exhausted.”

“So, you haven’t actually learned any of Armstrong’s alchemy at all?” Hughes seemed surprised - with the Major’s massive enthusiasm, he would have thought he would jump into the alchemy teaching right away, but the two of them must have different ideas of how the lessons were supposed to go. When Amelia shook her head to confirm that, he made a note of it. He’d need to bring it up to the Major, but that doesn’t mean his superiors needed to know. Not yet, anyway. “Well, other than that… how have you been after your little outing with the Major looking for Isaac McDougal?”

“That freak show?” She lifted her head up again, “It was… well, yeah, it was a freak show. There’s no better way to put it.” 

He smiled a bit at her little joke, “I can agree with you on that. Military alchemists are kind of… superhuman. I never bothered to wrap my head around the stuff myself, not much of a science kind of guy, but when you see them in action, you have to wonder if that was a good idea or not.”

“You think it’s a bad idea to learn it?” She sat up a little straighter, curious as to what he thought. 

“Not necessarily.” He replied, “I think I wasn’t meant to have control over that kind of power. But those guys? They’re well-trained for it, they’re ready for whatever the government throws at them, with usually an unbreakable sense of loyalty. And I’ve seen them in action, and now so have you. And you’ll need to figure it out soon.”

“I know.” She leaned back in her chair, looking over at him. “Is that all you wanted to ask me about?”

“Have you been experiencing any issue since the McDougal incident?” He asked, “Nightmares, paranoia, anything like that.”

“Just exasperation at this entire family.” She replied dryly, “And it doesn’t make me eager to start learning this stuff.”

“Fair enough.” He wrote down in his file again, “Well, it sounds like Armstrong has a plan going, though I’ll talk to him about speeding it up for your sake. Otherwise... “ He shrugged and closed the file, “Everything looks to be fine.”

“What, that’s it?” Amelia asked, looking between him and the shut file, “Just a few questions and you’re done?”

“You’ve already told me plenty.” He smiled at her knowingly, and she frowned at his vague answer. He stood up from his seat, “I’m going to speak to the Major and then I’ll be on my way.” He headed out the door while Amelia was left alone in the room, until he stepped back in, “Oh, and I almost forgot.” He held out the paper sack that he had walked in with, “We confiscated a bunch of items from your pockets when you were arrested, we went through them and they’ve been labeled non-lethal or dangerous, so you can have them back.” 

She immediately reached for the bag, dumping it out and going for the most important thing she could find - her phone. She let out a sigh, feeling a strange sense of relief having the little device in her hands again, something to connect her back to her sanity. She hit the power button to turn it on… and then she did it again. And again. And again. She let out a groan of frustration when she realized her phone’s been going for a solid three days without any charge, of course the battery would be dead. She started looking through the pile for her charger, which she was sure she had tucked into her pocket somewhere before she was arrested...

Hughes watched as she went through her things, focusing on some weird box that they’d found in her pockets, and then looking for something else when it didn’t seem to be doing what she wanted. He shrugged and went outside to see the Major, who was standing right by the door. “Well, she’s got some fight in her still.” He said to him quietly, wanting to make sure Amelia couldn’t hear them. “But it does look like she’s been affected by the McDougal incident. Nothing to worry about yet, but I’d still keep an eye on her.”

“Of course.” The Major said, “I’ve been trying to instill some sense of discipline, it hasn’t been working well so far.”

“Keep trying. She’s still a fugitive of the government, and all her weird stories… I’m not sure we can trust her.” Hughes said, crossing his arms as he thought out loud, “We still haven’t gotten anything on that friend of hers, the BOLO’s turned up nothing so far. I’m not even sure she exists at this point.” 

“Should I ask about her?” 

“No, no. We don’t need to raise suspicion with questions like that. The fuhrer wants this girl ready to serve by the end of the year, full-fledged alchemist and all. And if that doesn’t work out… we’ll need to put her in high security when she fails the test, having knowledge of alchemy in prison is just not a safe combination.” He let out a small groan, “This is going to be so much paperwork… I don’t want to stay late again and miss out on dinner with my girls.”

“I’ll do my best to make your job easier in the future, Lieutenant Colonel.” The Major replied with a small smile, “Though it doesn’t make mine any easier.”

“Well, that’s what you get for volunteering.” Hughes joked with a grin of his own. “Also, you might want to speed up the curriculum, she’s complaining that you haven’t actually started her on alchemy.”

“But I am using the trusted method of alchemic education passed down through--!”

“ _ Nooo! _ ” They heard a shriek from the room and both soldiers burst in to see Amelia standing up, her back to them, holding onto the “box” that she had been given and a cord that was among her belongings.

“What’s wrong?” The Major asked, looking around, seeing that nothing was wrong with the room, and everything seemed to be in order other than Amelia herself. 

Amelia turned to face them, with a frustrated and distressed expression, “You guys don’t have any outlets that work with my plug!” She pouted, holding up the little two-pronged plug to show them. They just stared at it, surprised that she would make such a big deal about something like that.

“Well… You’re a smart girl, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” Hughes said dismissively, turning around and making his way out, waving goodbye, “See you in a week.” 

Amelia only continued to pout, looking down at the plug and the cord. For some reason, the outlets here were more like european ones, were one prong had to be turned sideways in order to work. Even then, there wasn’t a lot of them, and she wasn’t sure that if she somehow managed to turn one prong sideways she would be able to charge her phone… She looked down at them in frustration. 

“I’m… sure we can find a way to get this to work.” The Major said as he went over to her, reaching for her phone and charger, which she only moved out of his reach with a glare. If she was a cat, she might have hissed at him, too. He pulled his hands away awkwardly, not expecting her to be so possessive. “Ah… in the meantime, back to your lessons! Have a seat.” She took her seat, more focused on fiddling with her charging cord than listening to her teacher as he droned on and on.

* * *

The author would like to note that she was very tired when she came up with this chapter title. That is all. 

 


	7. Alchemy Lessons

_"A good teacher can inspire hope,_

_ignite the imagination,_

_and instill a love of learning."_

_- **Brad Henry**_

* * *

 

Amelia sat by the kitchen counter, making sure her cord was untangled as she set up everything. She had her big bowl, the ice was still in the freezer, now all that was left was to wait for the rest of it. Strongine was watching over by the door as Amelia got her cord and plug, waiting for the family servant to come back with what she had asked for.

“So… what kind of experiment did you say this was again?” She asked, looking at the smaller girl curiously as she stayed by the kitchen entrance, making sure to stay out of the way of the different cooks that were moving in and out to prepare lunch for everyone. 

“It’s one about electricity.” Amelia said, “I just… I saw this on the internet once, I think it’ll work. I mean, it should work.”

“Saw it on… what did you say?” The woman tilted her head to the side curiously.

“Never mind. Look, I just need my watermelon and I’ll be ready to go.” Amelia said, making sure the cord fit into the outlet plug. While the Armstrong family home had outlets, there was only maybe a total of 10 in the entire estate, and that was saying something since it was such a massive place. They only ever really used them for radios, and maybe a telephone or two, and that was considered luxurious. She couldn’t really wrap her head around it, how all of this was considered luxury when she thought it might be a hundred years ago. She still wanted to check all of her social media that she no longer had access to. Now that she had her phone back, it was almost like she was feeding an addiction that she had been sober from for too long. Not a bad kind of addiction, like meth, but more like a harmless one - like an addiction to chocolate.

“Alright! Here we are, Miss Seymour.” Amelia perked up when she heard someone calling her name, seeing the servant coming in with a large paper bag in her arms. She was the same one that had woken her up by rolling her out of her bed, the small, stout woman whose body was clearly more muscle than fat like it appeared, blonde hair pulled back, with one curl sticking straight up off her head for some unknown reason. She found out that her name was actually Bernice. She took the bag on the island in the center of the kitchen and put it down, “It took me a little while, but I found you a couple medium-sized watermelons, and a can of iodized salt.” Amelia ran over to the bag and reached inside for the watermelons and put one inside her water-filled bowl, going over to the refrigerator to get the ice. “I don’t know why you wanted iodized salt over regular sea salt, as that tastes much better, but I got it for you.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks Bernice.” Amelia dumped the ice in the bowl, reaching over for the can of salt, dumping some of it in the water. She reached for her plug and pushed it into the rind, and put the other end on her phone, waiting for what felt like hours, when it was really just a few seconds, and she finally saw what she wanted.

The little flashing image of a battery, with a little red line at the bottom of it. “Yes!” She cried out in victory, “It works! It’s charging!” She couldn’t help but jump around excitedly, just that much closer to her old life again.

Strongine came over, looking down at the little set up she had, “Well, I’m glad that it’s working, whatever it is that you’re doing.” She said, patting Amelia’s shoulder, almost knocking her over again. “So, what does it do when it’s charging?”

“It doesn’t do anything, at least, not yet.” Amelia said, “We have to wait until it’s gotten to a certain percentage of battery life, and I can use it again.” 

“Okay, and then what will it do?” Strongine asked.

“I think the better question that you should be asking is ‘what won’t it do?’” Amelia said with a smug smile, holding it up to her, still making sure that she wasn’t removing the plug, “This little device is a phone, a music player, a calculator, a library of books, a gaming device, a connection to the largest information source in the world called the internet, it is  _ everything _ .” She put it down, “Once it’s working, I can prove it to you.” 

“My! What a technological innovation!” Strongine said, clapping her hands together excitedly, “It sounds exciting. I look forward to your demonstration.” She smiled at her, “In the meantime, though, why don’t we practice a bit on the piano? I’m sure if we--”

“I’m not doing your concert, Strongine, we’ve been over this.” Amelia snapped, interrupting her, “Besides, having a little piece of my home back is way more important than piano lessons.” She looked down at her phone, waiting for the lock screen to come up so that she could have something to  _ do _ again. 

Strongine let out a sigh, “Alright, fine. Just make sure you’re not staring at that thing all day. You still have alchemy lessons with Alex in a couple hours.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there.” She said dismissively, her eyes glued to the little electronic device, thinking of all that she could do with it once it was charged up. 

“You promise?” Strongine asked, “You seem distracted.”

“I’ll be there, I promise.” Amelia looked over at her, looking her right in the eye, “I’ll be there for my lesson, okay?”

“Okay.” Strongine started to make her way out of the kitchen, “Well, have fun waiting for your little… everything device.” She headed through the archway while Amelia stayed by the counter, staring at her phone, pressing the home button to see how close the battery was to being completely charged.

* * *

 

Amelia let out a groan as she looked at her phone - it wasn’t even at 4%, or at least a percentage where it would be able to show her more than just a flashing image of a battery with low power. How long had she been waiting now? She had no idea, there wasn’t exactly a clock in the kitchen. She had thought about borrowing the timers that the chefs had, but they were currently in use as they prepared lunch for everyone. The whole place smelled of spices and steamed vegetables. She might have found it pleasant if she hadn’t been waiting for her phone to charge. It felt like it was taking forever. 

She heard the sound of something banging down the hall, getting rapidly closer. The moment she realized they were footsteps, she turned around in time to see the doors to her teacher slamming open the kitchen doors, loudly shouting her name, “AMELIA SEYMOUR! YOU ARE LATE TO YOUR ALCHEMY LESSONS!”

“You don’t have to yell!” She shouted back at him. “And I was going to go! I just…” She stopped as she looked down at her phone as it kept charging. “I’m busy.” She watched as her teacher went over to where she had been looking, “Please don’t mess with that.”

“This is what has kept you busy?” He asked, picking it up, bending over slightly since his massive size couldn’t really hold a phone cord easily while it was plugged into the watermelon, “Did you do this yourself?”

“Yeah, it’s all I can do, considering none of your outlets match my plug.” She said, walking over to take it out of his hand and put it back on the table, but he kept it just out of her reach, “Oh, come on! That’s my phone!”

“And you managed to find a way to use electricity through a watermelon?” She could see the edges of Armstrong’s moustache turn up in a smile, “What excellent thinking! I did not know you were so talented with chemistry! There is hope for you after all!”

Amelia’s brow furrowed, “What do you mean ‘after all’? I did everything you told me to do! Did you think I was some idiot that couldn’t learn anything?” She didn’t realize she was pouting when she had finished, hating the idea that someone considered her incapable.

“Well, you’ve shown so little interest in your previous lessons, I couldn’t help but think this was going to be a long and arduous process,” Armstrong replied, his hand going down and patting the watermelon in the bowl, “But now I see that you are more than capable of understanding the magnificent art that is alchemy!” Amelia shooed his hand away and he moved it, “We should begin your lessons right away, so that you can absorb as much knowledge as possible!”

“Fine, gimme a second.” She carefully moved her lips around her phone so that she held it with her mouth, her hands going around the bowl that held her watermelon that her phone was still plugged into and picked it up with a grunt, “Okeh, yet’s go.” She said with her phone in her mouth, starting to make her way out of the kitchen.

“It can’t be necessary to bring that with you.” Armstrong said, coming up in front of her, “Just leave it behind.”

“I’m naw yeeving my hfone in da kitchen!” Amelia couldn’t really be understood without her lips, so the larger man took it out of her mouth, “That’s the most valuable piece of technology I own! I’m not letting it out of my sight!”

“Very well, I suppose we have little choice if you will not leave it on its own.” Armstrong said as he reached for the plug and pulled it out of the melon, starting to walk down the hall.

“HEY!” Amelia shouted in protest before she slammed the bowl down on the counter, icy water sloshing out of the bowl, and rushed after him. She reached for the phone but he held it above her head, “Give it back! That’s mine!” She knew she sounded like a child, even felt like one as she tried to jump for it, “It’s my phone! It has to charge! What the fuck are you even going to do with it?!” She kept trying to reach for it as they walked into the hall where they normally had their lessons. 

“Here, you can take it back,” He put her phone down on the table, and she was quick to scoop it up with the charging cord and the plug, glaring at him angrily. She saw him pull out a little piece of paper from a nearby book that he had put on the table (and now that she looked there were quite a few more books on the table than there normally were) and put it down, drawing a perfect circle before adding in a few more extra shapes, some triangles and a big square in the middle, the four corners touching the circle he had drawn. “Let me see the end of it.” He held out his hand for the plug, instead of just taking it like Amelia expected. She reached and pulled the plug off from the cord and handed it to him. She watched him put it down, “Do you know what this item is made of? It’s elements?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged, “Some plastic, maybe some copper from the circuits?” She really had no idea. 

“Hmm… I suppose I will need to come to understand it another way.” Armstrong said before he clapped his hands and put them down on the paper. Amelia had no idea what he was talking about, though she started to get worried when she saw blue sparks flying up from the paper, watching it flow over the little plug before it started to change. She could see one of the metal sticks changing, and it turned sideways, like it was always meant to look like that.

“Whoa.” She looked at the finished result, amazed that he had just changed it like that without even thinking about it, and she watched as he picked it up and plugged it into the wall - it was a perfect fit for the outlet there. “Oh my god, you fixed it!”

“No, I did not,” Armstrong said, holding up his hand as he corrected her, “I transmuted it. I took what it was, understood it, deconstructed it, and reconstructed it to better fit our purposes. Now you can keep an eye on it and still be able to focus on your lessons!” He smiled proudly at his success and Amelia was quick to rush over and plug her phone in, her face lighting up as she saw the little battery show up on the screen that told her it was charging.

“Yes!” She couldn’t help smiling widely as she knew that it would charge much faster like this.

“Now then,” Armstrong put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her to her chair, “Let’s begin with your formal alchemy lessons.” 

“Oh.” She was significantly less disappointed with having to do the usual lessons if it meant she could have her phone back once it was over. She took her seat and her teacher came in front of her, passing a text book over the surface of the table, and she opened it up to the first page as he started his lecture.

“I’ll give you a basic introduction before we start to attempt anything,” He cleared his throat, “Alchemy is an incredibly powerful science that allows one the power to transmute any form of matter into another kind of matter, it’s incredibly useful and has a great deal of purposes. It has three steps, which I mentioned to you before when I transmuted your little device: understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing. And while it is good to know the steps, it’s also best that you know the first rule off of which alchemy operates, can you tell me what it is?”

She looked up at her teacher, surprised that he was actually asking her to participate in this, “Uh… no idea.” She said, shrugging.

He nodded, as if he knew she wouldn’t know, but he did look sort of pleased that he got to answer his own question, “The first law of alchemy is known thus: it is impossible to create something from nothing. If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. This is the law of equivalent exchange.” He looked at her, “This is what gives alchemy its necessary limits so that its power is not abused for the wrong reasons. Likewise you cannot change inorganic matter into organic matter, nor can you do the reverse, and of course there are many similar limits such as that.”

“Okay.” She was actually learning something about alchemy. She doubted they had gone through his entire family tree, but maybe Hughes had actually said something to him. Okay, good. This was good. This was a start to her not going to jail. She sat up a bit straighter and looked through the book, glancing at the different paragraphs and over the interesting… circle things. She would have called them pentagrams if they had a star in them, but they didn’t. 

Armstrong watched as his student showed much more attention towards her lesson than before, and he smiled, feeling very pleased with her eager desire to learn. Perhaps it was best to just jump into alchemy, rather than go through his family history as he was taught. She wasn’t an Armstrong anyway, he supposed this information couldn’t be as useful to her as it was to him. He probably should have realized that faster… But for now, he was glad to have a student who was willing to pay attention. So he moved on with his lesson, talking about the importance of the processes of alchemy, describing how she needed to have a memorized knowledge of the chemical makeup of the different objects she would be transmuting in the future. Amelia nodded along, though she paused the lesson just after he started going into detail to ask for a pencil and paper to use to take notes, and the Major was more than happy to supply them.

Amelia wrote down everything she could remember, and she was glad that he was patient with her when she asked him to repeat something so she could make sure she got it down since it sounded important. Alchemy was a complicated science, as she quickly found out from listening to her introductory lecture, and she needed to make sure she understood everything that she could. She wrote notes and kept writing until her hand was sore and cramping, and she kept writing after that. She made sure all of her attention was focused on Armstrong, knowing that she was going to need everything that he was telling her so that she wouldn’t go to jail. And she had seen it in action, and she had to admit that she was looking forward to using that kind of power and ability. Armstrong discussed the importance of understanding the elements, and understanding potential and kinetic energy, how this ability was something that could come easily to some, but not to everyone. “You should know that it’s very much a possibility that you will not be able to perform alchemy.” He gently warned her, “Alchemy can be difficult to learn. So you’ll need to be ready to put forth everything that you have for these future lessons.”

“Maximum effort, got it.” She grinned up at him, “I can do this. I’m ready to learn alchemy.” She was able to do advanced chemistry back home, alchemy would probably be a much harder version of that, but she was ready to do whatever it took to avoid jail time. Her grin fell away as she saw her teacher’s face burst into tears, though he still tried to be composed, so it just turned into salty waterfalls running down his cheeks, “Uh… what’s wrong?”

“YOUR SENSE OF DETERMINATION IS SO MOVING!” He shouted, and she shrieked as he picked her up out of her seat to hug her, “I PROMISE YOU THAT I WILL DO ALL THAT I CAN TO TEACH YOU THE MAGNIFICENT ART OF ALCHEMY, MY EXCELLENT STUDENT!”

“Put me _ down _ ! I can’t learn jack shit if you don’t  _ put me fucking down _ !”

* * *

 

Their lessons continued for hours, to the point where she hadn’t even heard her phone go off when it was fully charged. She copied down notes until the sun was starting to make its way down in the sky. Armstrong was in the middle of explaining the power of the transmutation circle when the clock struck 3, signaling that it was time for their lessons to end. “Well, we’ve covered a great deal in the general knowledge. Tomorrow we’ll get into the practical.” He said with a smile.

“What? But you didn’t finish what you were saying about the tectonic energy.” Amelia looked up at him, and he was moved by how disappointed she sounded, “Oh, no. I see that look on your face, don’t you dare hug me again.”

“My apologies, but it’s just such a difference to have such an interested student. It moves me a great deal.”

“Yeah, and that’s fine or whatever, be emotional all you like, just don’t touch me.” She sneered as she fiddled with her pen, “Can you at least wrap up what you were saying about the energy of the tectonic plates? That sounded really important.”

“As much as I would enjoy nothing more, I have duties to attend to for Amestris.” He started to move around the table and Amelia started to get up to follow him.

“Okay, well can you at least summarize it before you go? Like, just give me the highlights or something for the notes.” She said, holding out the notebook and pencil she had been using for the last few hours. She backtracked before she realized she was about to leave her fully charged phone in the room, grabbing it and stuffing the charger rather unsuccessfully into a pocket as she started up the voice recording feature on her phone, “Look, you don’t even have to wait for me to write it down, just say it so I can record it and write it down later.” She held up the device as high as she could as she followed her teacher into the hallway, hoping to get it closer to his mouth, but he was still pretty tall and she couldn’t quite reach. 

“I am afraid there is too much for one to simply leave it summarized.” The Major did sound genuinely sorry that he couldn’t further her lessons.

“Oh, come on! We’re finally making progress on teaching me, and you’re just bailing?” Amelia didn’t want to stop here, she needed to get as much information in as much time as she could or she would face jail time. She wasn’t ready to go back to that tiny cell after experiencing how nice it was here! Not that she would be staying here when her lessons were over, but if she could help it she wasn’t going to go to jail without a fight. 

“Master Alex, the car is ready for your departure.” One of the servants came up to inform the Major. 

“Thank you, Samuel.” The Major turned to look back at his student, “Just study the alchemy text book I’ve given you, it should be sufficient.”

“But what if I have questions? No one else in your family performs alchemy, and I’m pretty sure the only person that did is your old man and I doubt he remembers this stuff as well as you would.” She kept trying to convince him to stay, she needed to figure out how this worked, damn it!

The Major looked and felt conflicted. Of course he wanted to stay behind a while longer with his clearly determined student who was so eager to learn the magnificent art of alchemy, but he couldn’t abandon his duties to his country, either. Not when there was a rampaging murderer targeting state-certified alchemists. They had been working with those cases for months, and the body count was getting so high it was put on priority in every investigations department in the country. He looked down at his young student, her eyes looking up at him, and he felt almost as if he was looking into the eyes of a puppy, begging for a good home with a good family after suffering such a great deal at the hands of another. 

He let out a sigh, “Very well, you may join me at my office,” He relented, and Amelia smiled, “And I will continue your lessons in the car, but once we arrive you will need to study on your own. Hurry and fetch the alchemy textbook.” She had already turned around before he finished his sentence and was rushing to the dining room that acted as a study and grabbed it before coming back, her charger cord knocking against her leg all the while with the plug in her pocket and her phone in the back pocket of her jeans (which were being washed every day at the Armstrong household. It was nice that she had an excuse to wear them all the time now). 

She followed her teacher out into the car and started recording him as he explained how an alchemist gained energy for transmutations from tectonic energy that comes from the movement of the earth’s continental plates. She didn’t write it down since that gave her a bit of motion sickness, but she was glad that she had her phone with her to get it down later. 

They soon arrived at the building known as Central Head Quarters and they got out. The Major told the driver to be back in a couple hours so he could return home in time for dinner and he went back to the estate. Amelia followed behind her teacher, asking a couple of questions to clarify about how alchemy worked in a way that she could understand. It was a completely new science to her, and she needed to make sure she knew it inside and out. The Major was more than pleased to answer and did so with patience that she would later be surprised he had, most of her tutors never had to deal with so many questions, but she imagined they would have been very annoyed. 

When they walked into the building, Amelia noticed there were so many more people in uniform walking around, chatting or carrying paperwork somewhere. Her questions became fewer as she looked around everything, following her teacher as he greeted a few of the other officers around them as he walked through the halls. She followed him into a hall that read “Investigations” and saw a few desks pushed together for work spaces for others as well as separate offices for those that she guessed were higher up in rank. 

“You work in an investigations department?” She didn’t really see him as the type, with his muscle she would have thought he would be a drill instructor or something. 

“Yes, we work to solve the more dangerous crimes that take place within Central City’s walls.” The Major said as he made his way to his desk, which was separated from the workspace of others, but was still in the same room.

“You solve crimes for Central? Not for the military?” She was a bit lost, wasn’t it the police’s job to make sure that crime wasn’t a thing in the city?

“We solve both.” The Major said as he sat down, gesturing to a chair for her to do the same. 

“So… you’re like a cop?” She tried to picture him in uniform - he probably would be pretty intimidating as a police officer. . Not that he wasn’t already intimidating as military, but a police officer would be kind of scary, too. 

He looked at her oddly from her phrasing of the word, clearly not knowing the meaning, so she elaborated, “Doesn’t Central have, like… I don’t know, an organized police force?”

“There is a civilian movement that works in that direction, but there is no formal police force for the city.” The Major clarified once he understood her question, “Amestris is a military state, meaning that there are no formal political offices that hold more power than those of military rank.”

“Really?” She was shocked, she knew she had been running back and forth between military, but she had always assumed that the country still had things like mayors or politicians or presidents or something. “So, the military runs the entire country? Isn’t that kind of…” She couldn’t really find the word she was looking for. She had always been told a military state was reflective of a dictatorship, but as far as she could tell it wasn’t really like that. Dictatorship implied that there was no voice for the people, no way for them to say what they wanted without facing punishment from the regime in some way or another. 

“The military does run the country, yes.” The Major clarified when she couldn’t finish her sentence, “And we do everything we can to keep the people of Amestris happy and safe within our borders, as well as promoting the intelligence and creativity that comes with learning the alchemical arts.” Amelia’s words kind of died as she heard the Major’s passionate description of what his country does for its people. He seemed to… he really did seem okay, and it wasn’t like he had treated her horribly (the exercising sessions were things that she disagreed with, but she knew that was for her betterment in the end).

“I guess so.” She relented and looked around the office, seeing plenty of people answering phones and doing paperwork, and some other doors put aside for separate offices, “So, whose offices are those?”

“Those offices belong to the lieutenant colonels and colonels that work in the investigations department as well.” He said, “You know one of them already, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes is one of the investigation department heads.”

“He is?!” Amelia almost hoped she wouldn’t see him. He was weird enough when he last saw her, shoving pictures of his daughter in her face. “Uh… how often do you see him?”

“Oh, every day. The Lieutenant Colonel and I are good friends.” The Major replied with a smile, “And of course much of my paperwork requires approval from him.” Amelia grimaced and looked for a chair where she could sit down and took a spot. 

“So… about the tectonic plates again? I have another question.” She began again into their lecture as the Major started into the pile of paperwork that was waiting for him. He seemed to be happy to answer her, though when more and more people came up with papers for him to review or sign and she eventually put a pause on her questions to let him work. She started to just read from the alchemy book she had been given, occasionally waiting for an opening in the Major’s work so that she might ask a question for clarification.

After an hour or two, a pair of soldiers came through the doors, saluting the Major, and he returned it and stood up before they spoke. “Major Armstrong, sir. Lieutenant Colonel Hughes is asking to speak to you about the recent alchemist murders.” One said.

“Then I’ll see him now.” The Major looked back at Amelia before turning to the pair, “While I’m gone, would you look after my student? Just make sure she doesn’t go anywhere she’s not supposed to.”

“Why can’t I come with? Why do I need babysitters?” Amelia asked, a little offended that he would have someone watch her like she was a kid. She wasn’t a kid, she was 16. 

“I’m sorry Amelia, you cannot argue with me about this.” The Major insisted, “If you have questions, write them down and I will answer them when I return.” He left without another word and Amelia frowned, watching his back go out the door before she sat back in her chair. She glanced up at the pair of soldiers, a man and a woman, who glanced at her awkwardly. The man had long blonde bangs that framed his square jaw, and the woman had short brown hair, and a mole on her cheek just under her eye. 

“What?” She snapped.

“Nothing!” The man said quickly, throwing up his hands defensively, “Just uh… Are you the one we heard about?” He was quickly elbowed in the side by the woman and he let out a grunt.

“Probably,” Amelia replied shortly, figuring even a place like this had a rumor mill, “The trespasser who needs an alchemy teacher, right? That’s me.” She looked back at her book, “Which is bull because I didn’t trespass shit.” 

The two soldiers glanced at each other, “Well…” The woman spoke up, “In any case, the Major is a great alchemist, so I’m sure you’re learning a lot from him.”

“Yeah,” She said, turning her attention back to the book for a while. She got to a new chapter and started reading, trying to ignore the fact that she was sure the other two soldiers were staring at her.

“So… how are the lessons going?” The male soldier asked and Amelia looked up at him. 

“They’re going fine.” She said shortly.

After that, they stopped talking to her. She was glad they seemed to understand she wasn’t interested in conversation with them and they were leaving her alone. Though that didn’t stop them from talking to each other, and she could hear every word.

“She’s not like the Major at all, do you think they get along?”

“Who knows? Far be it from him to turn down someone who needs help. You remember how excited he was when he signed up for it?”

The blonde shuddered, “Yes. Private Hanson still has bruises from his ‘embrace.’ I feel sorry for the guy.”

“Why? The major seems really happy with all of this.”

“No, I meant Hanson. He’s okay but the bruises are still there. But yeah, I’m surprised he’s taking it so well.”

“At least she’s well behaved. You don’t really expect that from a prisoner.”

“No, you don’t. So I guess that’s good for him. He probably needs that on top of these murders…”

“He’s a potential target, too. They’re only doing it to state-certified alchemists.” There was a pause and Amelia decided then to speak up.

“Who’s targeting state-certified alchemists?” She took a little pleasure in watching them jump up from her question.

“You heard all of that?” the woman asked.

“You’re literally four feet from my seat, and you weren’t exactly whispering.” She commented dryly. “So, what are you talking about?”

“Well… there’s this murderer that was over in the east that targets state alchemists in very… uh, unique ways. His signature is pretty well known.” Amelia didn’t ask for details, “But there haven’t been any reports, but people did mention someone with his description getting on a train to Central, and we’re all a bit nervous to say the least…”

“So, how come this guy is targeting state alchemists?” She asked.

“No one really knows.” The man said, “It could be any number of thing, the military is… well, the military. We’ve all done some things that we’re not proud of, and with the wars we have going on in the west and the threat of war in the north and south, it could be for anything.” 

Amelia was kind of surprised to hear they had such activity going on. On her end, there hadn’t been a lot of military activity on her country’s borders, but it sounded like these guys were on bad terms with everybody. “So… no one knows who this guy is or why he’s doing it?”

“We have a basic description, it’s hard to miss. He’s apparently described with a massive scar across his face in the shape of an X.” The woman said.

“And you can’t find this guy?” Amelia was kind of surprised that would be missed so easily.

“He knows how to slip away from us, we don’t have many sightings of him at all, not recently.” Both of them seemed very discouraged at the news, and she could understand why.

“Do you guys have names?” She asked, deciding to switch to a different topic.

Again, they were both a bit surprised, “Uh, yes. I’m Sergeant Brosh, and this is Lieutenant Ross.” He answered. 

“I’m Amelia.” She held out her hand to them, both of them taking turns shaking it. “So, do you guys work here, too?”

“Yes, we’re both part of the investigations department.” Brosh said, “We serve under the Major.”

“So, he’s seriously your boss?” The pair nodded to answer her question, “Okay, so let me ask you this: Is he any different at work than what I’ve seen of the guy at home?” The pair glanced at each other with a shared grimace, both recalling memories that Amelia couldn’t imagine about the Major’s behavior.

“No.” They answered at the same time. 

“The Major’s always been a bit… emotional.” Brosh said apprehensively.

“Not that it’s a bad thing to have a boss that’s so sensitive,” Ross said quickly, coming to his defense, “But sometimes… it’s just…”

“Overkill?” Amelia finished for her.

“I was going to say overwhelming, but that works too.” Ross said with a small laugh. 

Amelia spoke with the pair of soldiers a little longer, asking questions about their work, making small talk, just little things for a while until the Major returned back to his office - with a familiar face in tow. 

“Well, I had to see it to believe it.” Hughes said as he came over, watching Ross and Brosh salute him before saluting back and letting them be as they were. “So it is true, you are stable enough to be out and about in public without your handcuffs.”

Amelia rolled her eyes, “Oh, yeah. I begged the Major to put them on me before we left and he refused.” Her words were dripping with disdained sarcasm. 

The Lieutenant Colonel only chuckled, “I’m amazed you’ve still got that attitude, too. I would have hoped the Armstrong family and their general mannerisms would have rubbed off on you.”

“Yeah, right. I can’t imagine ever acting like that.” She scoffed, “They can go nuts with it, but the day I rip my shirt off to show my muscles will be the day hell freezes over.” Hughes laughed and the Major went around to his desk again. 

“In any case, it’s nice to see you not behaving like a fugitive and more like a student.” He said, “I’ll be sure to let the Fuhrer know you’re studying hard.” She nodded silently, though she was at least glad to get some recognition of the hard work she was putting in, “The Major tells me you’re quite the inquisitive one, how is it going for you so far?”

She shrugged, “It’s science, but I think I’m starting to get it.” The colonel nodded in approval.

“She has been a great student thus far.” The Major praised, “She absorbs the knowledge like a sponge.”

“Sort of.” Amelia muttered, knowing she still had a long way to go. 

“Then you should make a good alchemist someday.” Hughes said with a smile. “I’d love to chat more, but I’m just here to drop off some work.” He held up a manila-colored file with some papers inside.

“You can give the sergeant that work.” The Major said, pointing to Sergeant Brosh, who took the file from the lieutenant colonel. 

“Well, best of luck to you, Amelia. I hope your studies go well.” Hughes said, saluting her before he made his way out. 

“Thanks.” She said, looking back down at the book where she had made so many notes and scribbled the answers to her questions from the Major. There was a lot about this science that she still didn’t understand, and she had no idea how to actually transmute something, or even how they managed to get energy from the shifting of tectonic plates through a drawing of a circle and change lead into gold. And it was only day one… She was going to need all the luck she could get if she wanted to avoid prison. 


	8. Discoveries of Disgust

_"The saddest aspect of life right now_

_is that science gathers knowledge_

_faster than society gathers wisdom."_

_- **Isaac Asimov**_

* * *

 

Amelia groaned as she reached the end of the five-kilometer run, seeing the Armstrong family already starting on their weight training. She was a panting, miserable, sweaty mess as she looked at them. She watched as even Catherine was lifting weights as big as her brother's. She came over to sit down on one of the stone benches, sighing and letting her catch her breath. The family had taken to letting her just do the one lap around the courtyard since she wasn't up to their same level of physical fitness, but it was still fucking hard.

She looked up to see Diana and Delilah coming over with some water and a towel for her. "You always get so sweaty from the run." One of them said as Amelia took the towel to wipe at her forehead.

"Yeah, because it's a long fucking run." She snapped as she took the glass of water from the other and started gulping it down.

"And always so vulgar with her language." Said the other in a low voice that Amelia could hear perfectly well as she watched the other twin laugh.

"I'm _right_ here." She watched the twins look back at her, then say nothing as they walked away to somewhere else. She glared at their backs as she stayed where she was, looking at the Armstrong family as they completed their morning reps. She didn't really care to do anything more than watch, she was already very tired from the run, and she never wanted to do anything like that again, though she knew she would end up doing it again tomorrow morning.

She watched as Philip Gargantuan or something Armstrong led the rest of his family in weightlifting. It was kind of funny to watch, considering he was shorter than Catherine, he was such a stocky man. She still didn't understand how a man like him could grow, and somehow keep, a full head of blonde locks. Even more strange was the fact that Catherine, who seemed such a tiny thing in comparison to the Major and his triplet sisters, was keeping up with them with the same weight. These people were all ridiculously strong, but somehow Catherine managed to remain the only lean one of the bunch. It was something of a physical marvel to her.

She tried to just relax for now, and that was where her phone came in. She was glad to have it back and working again, though there wasn't any signal for it to pick up. She couldn't do a lot of things, no access to the internet like she had hoped for, or access to any social media and even some of the games she had on there, but the music was there, and that was what was most important to her. She put in her headphones and she started playing some songs. She closed her eyes to the world, pretending that she was back at home, on a bench in a park somewhere, just taking a break from all of this stuff. For a little while, she could forget that Amestris even existed, and she could just have a normal life again and not worry about jail or alchemy.

It was nice to pretend, if only for a song or two.

* * *

 Amelia woke up to meet the dark lighting of the room she had been given. She stared at the door as she wondered why she was awake, and then she heard why.

The phone was ringing, and it was in the hall outside her door. She groaned and pulled her pillow over her head, trying to block the sound, but it still came through. She sighed and got up, figuring she would probably be the only one to answer it at this time of the night. She got to the door, opening it up and trudging down to the phone, picking it up, "Do you have _any_ idea what time it is?" She growled into the phone.

"Uh…" The voice on the other line seemed kind of surprised, "Is this the number for the Armstrong estate?"

"Yeah, who is this?" Amelia asked.

"This is Lieutenant Ross of the Investigations Department. We need the Major to come down to our location right away."

"Oh, hey." Amelia's voice softened from her irritated tone when she recognized the name, remembering the face of the lady Lieutenant she had spoken to the other day. "It's Amelia. You'll need to give me a minute, I don't think the guy's awake at… what time is it right now anyway? There's no clock here."

"A little past two in the morning." Amelia let out an exasperated sigh at the news, "I know it's late, but we do need him down here."

"I know, I know, hang on…" Amelia put the phone down and started making her way down the hall. She had learned whose room was whose while she was here, and she went up to the Major's room and started pounding on his bedroom door, "Wake up! There's a phone call for you!" She called through the doors, probably waking up everyone else that was nearby, but right now she just wanted him to take the stupid phone so she could go back to sleep.

The door opened to reveal Major Armstrong dressed in a set of striped pajamas, and a matching nightcap that all seemed perfectly straight and clean, though his mustache was not as curly as she remembered it being. "Amelia, it is very early, we do not need to start your training for another few hours." He said with a yawn.

"Phone." She said, pointing down the hall, "Asked for you. Take the stupid call so I can sleep again." She said, already starting to make her way back to her room with the Major behind her. She went back into her room as she heard the Major picking up the phone and speaking to Lieutenant Ross. She didn't know what it was about, and she didn't care. She flopped back on the bed and went back to sleep without another word.

* * *

 The next morning, she woke up without the unwanted wake-up call from Delilah, Diana, and Bernice. It was nice to sleep in and see the sun already high in the sky. She got up and dressed herself before she left the room and went to the dining hall. The room was empty of the Armstrong family, and she wondered if she had missed breakfast so she went to the kitchen. She found Bernice in there, along with a couple of other servants that were just working on cleaning dishes.

"Uh… hey." She said, getting their attention.

"Well, well! Look who finally found her way out of bed." Bernice said, Amelia frowned at the woman, but she only grinned at the sight of the teenager's displeasure, "What are you doing here?"

"Did I miss breakfast?" She asked.

"Technically, yes. We had pancakes." Bernice said, "But I imagine you're hungry since you just woke up. Feel free to help yourself to what's already made." She pointed Amelia towards the pantry and she went over to find something to eat. She grabbed an apple and managed to find a cheese wheel and an unsliced loaf of bread. It was weird to see since she was so used to just cheese slices and normal white bread, but she grabbed them anyway and made a cold cheese sandwich to munch on. She went over to the icebox (as they insisted she call it instead of a refrigerator for some reason) and found they had some milk so she made herself a glass. She ate in the kitchen, seeing the servants move about with washing dishes for a while.

She looked over at Bernice, "Where is everyone? How come nobody woke me up?"

"Well, since your teacher isn't here, we didn't think it was appropriate to wake you up for your morning training," Bernice said. "The Lady Armstrong agreed, and thought it would be good for you to have a day off to build some more muscle for your physique." Amelia was surprised they would let her have a day off, they always seemed to so disciplined, she didn't think the rest of the family would let her keep a day to herself.

"So where is he?" She asked before biting into her apple.

"He's at work, apparently something terrible happened the night before," Bernice said, shaking her head a bit in sympathy. "He wouldn't give us details, but he advised the family to stay indoors."

"What? Why?"

"I just said he wouldn't give details," Bernice replied dryly. Amelia scowled at her response.

"Okay, but he told you what happened, right?" She asked, "He wouldn't just say 'stay inside' without saying why?"

"He said a murderer had found his way into Central." Bernice said, "He didn't want to have his family at risk, so he said for everyone to stay inside." Amelia's eyes widened at the news.

"Jesus Christ. Does that mean someone died last night?" Bernice shrugged in response as she dried one of the dishes.

"It's a possibility, but if someone died, he didn't say who it was." Amelia didn't like this news. She remembered the soldiers from yesterday who had talked about a murderer.

"I bet it was that alchemist killer I heard about." She said, and Bernice froze in her work. "I remember they talked about him at the Major's work. They were afraid he would come to Central because someone said they saw him getting on a train. He must have killed one of the military's alchemists." Bernice put the plate that she had been drying down on the counter.

"Then he doesn't want his family to become potential hostages." Bernice said, putting the plate away before starting on the next one, "You better stay inside, too, Miss Seymour. A learning alchemist could still be in danger."

"Yeah, I guess." She said, and she took another bite out of her apple, "Well, I'm gonna go find someone else to talk to. See you." She turned to head for the kitchen door.

"Ah-ah! Hold it right there." Amelia stopped at the sound of Bernice's call, looking back to see the older woman gesture to one of the other servants, "Here, Marietta. Make sure that Miss Seymour here doesn't go anywhere she's not supposed to."

"Oh, come on, really?" She looked down at the shorter, older woman as she came up to take her hand. "Please let go of me, I'm not a child." Marietta did as she asked, but she still stayed by Amelia's side as she left the kitchen. She should have known better that the people in this place wouldn't let her just wander on her own time.

* * *

She eventually found Strongine who took her away from Marietta, though she was quickly put on piano training since the Major wasn't around to make her focus on alchemy. She worked with her, letting her hands move over the piano keys as Strongine placed music in front of her. "It's good to see that you can read music." She told her as she practiced, "You really have had formal training, haven't you?"

"Yeah." Amelia was focused on playing, so she was just able to give one-word answers while she played. Strongine didn't speak as she turned the pages for her, knowing the song by heart as she played it already. It was a song Amelia had never heard before, but Strongine had gone on a long-winded speech about it that she had honestly forgotten most of, so it was probably part of the Armstrong Legacy. She simply played it, and when she reached the end, Strongine applauded her with a bright smile.

"You play so beautifully, Amelia." She praised her, "It's clear to see you have years of training under your belt."

"Thanks." She smiled back at her as she reached up to look over the composition, reading the name at the front, Jeremy Louis Armstrong - yep, she guessed right. "It's kind of nice to play the piano again. I haven't really had the chance with all the craziness in the alchemy training and escaped prisoners and a bunch of other weird shi-- I mean, stuff." Strongine had made a point of asking her not to curse while she was playing piano, saying she thought it wasn't ladylike and also that she thought it was vulgar. Out of respect for the first person to try to befriend her since she had gotten there, she didn't mind indulging her.

"Yes, poor Alex must be overloaded with work at the office." Strongine said, "But our house certainly enjoys the sound of your piano playing. We consider it an elegant instrument." She put her hand on a few of the keys, playing out a tune that she knew very well. "You know, this piano was made by hand by my great grandfather? He sawed the wood, polished it, and tuned the strings himself."

"Really? That's kind of cool." Amelia commented as she looked at the old piano, "It's in really good condition for being made so long ago."

"This piano is older than I am, it's part of the family." Strongine said as the simple tune kept playing, "We make sure to get it tuned once every year, and polish it twice a year. It's dusted and cleaned every day."

"How old is the piano?" She asked curiously.

"It's 85 years old," Strongine answered.

"So how old are you?" Strongine stopped playing and looked over at Amelia, who had something of a grin on her face.

"A lady never reveals her age, it takes away the mystery of it." She answered her.

"So you're older than thirty." Amelia watched with satisfaction as Strongine's cheeks flushed red, "If you were younger than that, you wouldn't think anything of your age."

"That's because youth is valued more when you're a woman." Strongine replied, going back to playing, "At my age, being unmarried… it makes things… difficult for mother and father."

"How can it make things difficult?" Amelia was confused, "You're like the richest family in town with connections almost everywhere possible."

"My parents want me to be happy, and taken care of after they're gone." She said, focusing on the piano keys as she played. "I am the first Armstrong they expect to marry off and continue our legacy with grandchildren. I can't do that by myself." She smiled wistfully, "And truth be told, I would like that, too."

"So, why don't you have kids?" Amelia asked, "You can have children without being married."

"Technically, yes, but it's not exactly considered proper." Strongine said with a chuckle, "And I meant more the idea of having someone to make grandchildren with, not so much the actual children part."

"Oh." Amelia hummed, "So… you don't have any potential suitors?"

"There are a few." She said, "But they're more after the Armstrong estate than my heart." She still had that wistful smile on her face, "Most of them don't even contact me, they contact mother and father with proposals. Mother says the men are good, but I have final say on who I marry, so long as I marry. But… I suppose I'm something of a hopeless romantic, wanting to find a man who will look at me and think I'm the most beautiful woman in the world and how lucky they are to have married me."

"I think I understand." Amelia said, and Strongine's fingers paused as she put her attention on the young woman, "I mean, the part about wanting to find someone who you know won't take advantage of you. Who you know isn't after you for some greedy reason."

"Yes, exactly." Strongine said, "It's hard to find that when you're in a position like we are." She said, and she let out a humorless laugh as she said, "And it's even harder for a woman like me to find a man who is genuinely attracted to me."

Amelia didn't want to say that she was right, but she probably was. Strongine wouldn't exactly be considered 'feminine' like her sister Catherine. And her mother was… well, she wasn't exactly the bombshell that her youngest daughter was, but there was still a sort of elegance to her, in her massive height. She could see how easy it was for someone to be intimidated or put off by her appearance. Amelia certainly was when they first met.

"After all, not many men can stand to look at the sheer beauty of an Armstrong woman." She said with a haughty and hardy laugh, and Amelia laughed with her. She wasn't sure if she was kidding or if she was serious since the Armstrongs told their kids that everything they did was amazing and perfect. "I'll just need to find a man that won't think himself inferior when he stands next to me in our wedding pictures."

She smiled, "Well, they say confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can wear. I'm sure you'll find someone eventually." She said.

"And what about you? Do you think you'll ever have kids some day?" Amelia's eyes went wide and she shook her head.

"No. I don't want kids." She said, looking down at the piano, starting to play another tune, just something that would distract her from that thought.

"Oh? Can I ask why?"

Her hands stalled at her question, "I just… don't want kids, okay?" She wanted to leave it at that, and Strongine seemed to tell it was a sensitive subject for her, so she let it drop.

"Well, if nothing else, you are convincing my brother how much he wants to have children some day," Strongine said. Amelia snorted in laughter.

"Really? I can't really see him as a good family man, crushing everyone with his hugs." She said.

"Well, Alex is very different with young children." She said, "He's always been very sensitive to them. I think if he ever came across a child, he wouldn't put all of his strength into it."

"Really? With all those muscles and that crazy discipline, I find it hard to believe." She said, "I mean, he's a military man, he's all about doing things by the letter, following orders, right?"

Strongine was quiet for a moment before saying, "Not really. He was almost court-martialed for failing to follow orders. His standing as an alchemist gave him some persuasion, so he was simply dismissed from the battlefield."

Amelia looked up at Strongine, surprised to hear this news about her teacher, "Seriously? What happened?"

"I shouldn't really say." Strongine said dismissively, "This is more Alex's story than mine, but…" She looked over at her, "Well, it was during the Ishvalan extermination campaign. Alex was sent out as one of the military's most powerful weapons. He never gave us details about what happened, but there was plenty of tears as he spoke of how he was given orders to kill women and children, innocent ones that had no combat experience or reason to fight. Even ones that supported Amestrians in their decision to fight against the rebellion were killed. Apparently, he made a case to his superior officer in tears, and they ordered him to return home." Amelia looked up at Strongine with wide eyes, "Of course, there was much more to it than that. But I wouldn't bring it up with Alex unless it was very important, it's a very sensitive subject for him." Amelia nodded.

"Yeah, sounds like it." She said quietly. She had forgotten that he was a soldier on top of everything. He was always sensitive to her, always crying, hugging, sharing joy and sadness and what have you. The idea of someone like him going to war, to help kill people, kill women and children… She couldn't picture it at first, but when she did, she could only imagine his face twisted in agony.

"But I think, when the time comes, he'll make an excellent father." Strongine said in a cheerier voice, "If only he were married to a woman and not his job, he could do just that. He's starting to get on in age, you know. He should think of marrying soon." Amelia nodded, not really sure what else to say in response to that. "As for you…" She paused as she thought of something, "Well, perhaps you can become a piano teacher some day. You're still quite good at it."

"Maybe." She said, "I like the idea of playing piano and getting paid for it." She said as she played a little more, changing it to a happier tune.

"You seem to enjoy piano playing a great deal." Strongine said, "I don't blame you, it is a beautiful instrument."

"Yeah, but… it's more than that." Amelia said, "I get to decide how to play it, and what song is played… It's really nice to be able to make that kind of music your way, isn't it?"

Strongine nodded silently, and Amelia continued to play, "I like the idea of making music like this since no one can play the same song the exact same way I can."

"That's true, your music is all your own." Strongine agreed. She reached for another composition and put it in front of her, "Give this one a try when you're ready." Amelia looked up at the piece and started to play, keeping her eyes on the paper as her fingers moved over the keys and played out the sweet tune that had been composed for her to play.

She had gotten half-way through the first page when the door to the room opened and she saw the Major on the other side, "Oh, hey." She greeted him casually, though when she saw the serious expression on his face, she quieted, wondering what was wrong.

"Alex, what is it?" Strongine asked.

"Our case has been moved over to East City." He looked over at Amelia, "We are going to be traveling immediately. Pack enough clothes for a week."

"Wait, what?" Amelia swung her legs over the piano bench to face him completely, "Why?"

"Because I cannot have you be alone and without your alchemy lessons while I am investigating." He said as he came in, putting his hand on her shoulder to push her out, "Now hurry and pack! We do not have much time, our train leaves in forty-five minutes!" She felt her feet dragging and stumbling along the carpet as he pushed her out and she went out as he demanded that she pack her clothes.

Soon enough, she had grabbed enough clothes to last a week into a suitcase, with Delilah and Diana helping out to put in everything she forgot as well. And once she was ready, the Major pretty much grabbed her and ran out the door, she wasn't sure her feet touched the ground as he ran her to the car and rushed to the train station. She ended up getting a first-class booth with the Major… and another familiar face. He didn't look exactly pleased to see her.

"You _had_ to bring your student with you on this trip?" Hughes asked Armstrong as he sat across from the alchemist and his student in their booth as they traveled off to East City.

"She is my responsibility, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. I could not leave her to be without alchemy teaching at home when I am responsible for her, I could not ask one of my family to see to her education."

"No, I'm in agreement with this guy," Amelia said, "I could have had like a week off my training, it was really nice to not have to wake up at 5 AM every morning." Hughes quirked a curious brow, wondering why she was up so early in the morning, but didn't ask. It was probably better not to know what went on in the Armstrong estate if the Major's family was eccentric as he was.

"You have less than a year to work towards your alchemy exam. I do not believe you have the luxury of taking time off." Armstrong pointed out, and Amelia had to agree, though she didn't want to.

"Well, whatever, so what happened in East City that we had to go right now?" She asked. "Did that guy strike again?"

Hughes' face turned grim at the mention. "We're actually on our way there for something unrelated, though we will be looking for the alchemist hunter."

"What is it?" She asked, wanting details.

The two of them were silent in response, and Amelia started to grow a little nervous, "Do I… want to know why we're heading over there?"

"It's not a good reason. We're going to make an official arrest, and we're bringing him with us back to Central to be tried for his crimes." Hughes explained.

"Did he… kill someone?" She asked unsurely.

"No, he did something that can be considered much worse." Armstrong explained, "The alchemist we're arresting is Shou Tucker, his official name is the Sewing Life Alchemist. He specializes in bio-alchemy, and he was certified as an alchemist about two years ago."

Hughes nodded. "He was the first alchemist to make a chimera that could understand human speech. I remember the story was big when he first got his certification."

"What's a chimera?" Amelia asked, "I remember that being mentioned in one of the first chapters of my book, but…"

"A chimera is an alchemical creation, most often it's made with two different species of animal to create something new." Armstrong said, "It's a relatively new field, and highly experimental."

She grimaced at the description, "Jeez, is it safe for the animals to do that kind of stuff?"

"If everything has been done properly, some chimeras can live for a decade or so." Armstrong said, "Theoretically, at least. The oldest one we have recorded lived to be about six years of age."

"That doesn't really sound safe…" Amelia frowned, growing concerned.

"On paper, it's fine." Hughes brushed it off, "You could use chimeras to make bigger, powerful guard animals, or just good housepets for certain kids, or create a new species altogether." He shrugged, "There have been some people voicing animal-rights concerns, but nothing's concrete and the government has no reason to stop alchemists who create chimeras."

"I see…" She said softly in response. It didn't really sound right, but if there were no arrests being made for it, it probably wasn't that bad. "So… this guy made a chimera that could understand speech? Like, it could take orders really well?"

"It could talk," Hughes said. Amelia's eyes went wide, "The certification board found it incredible that he was able to make a chimera with a brain complex enough that it could understand and communicate with people."

"That sounds amazing." She said, genuinely surprised that the alchemical sciences could do that, "Did you ever see it?"

"No, I never got the chance. You see, while the chimera could talk, it only said one thing," He held up one finger to emphasize his point, "It said, 'I want to die.' and then it wouldn't eat until it did." Amelia grimaced.

"Christ, that sounds horrible…" Hughes nodded in agreement.

"Apparently, he's made another one." Hughes said, "Which is why we're going to arrest him."

"I don't understand, if the first chimera got him his certification, then what's wrong with this one? Does it say 'fuck you' or something?" She was confused.

"It turns out the first talking chimera he made used a human in the process." Hughes said grimly, "The first chimera used his wife. This one used his own child, she wasn't even four years old yet…" His voice broke a moment and he had to stop speaking. Amelia was surprised at how broken up he was getting as he stopped himself, but when she looked closer, she actually only saw pure rage in his eyes. She remembered that he had a young daughter, he hadn't stopped shoving pictures of her in her face the last time they met. She must be around the same age as this girl… As a new father, she figured he must be imagining his own daughter in this girl's place.

"What would make him do that to his own kid?" Amelia asked, a little horrified that someone would actually use their own family like that.

"He created a new chimera for his annual assessment," Armstrong said as Hughes wasn't in the best condition to answer. "He was at risk of losing his certification, we understand it was a desperate act to keep it."

"How can a certification be worth more than the life of your own kid?!" Hughes almost shouted, his fist coming down on the padded seat of their car, digging into the carpeting there, "How can this man claim he was a father when he would throw her away like that?! And his wife, too! The woman who loved him and swore to love him until death, and he decides it's better to turn her into a chimera than be a husband?!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, please calm yourself." Armstrong said clearly, and Hughes relaxed his shoulders a bit, "I know that this is difficult for you, but I'm sure the judge will accept your report. I have no doubt that Tucker will be severely punished with or without it."

"I know." He said, sighing and leaning back. "I just can't help but picture this monster for what he is. I couldn't even imagine doing that to my own Elicia…" The Major was quiet. He knew how important Hughes' daughter was to him and thinking it was best to just let him calm down on his own.

"So… I'm supposed to help you guys arrest him or something?" Amelia asked, a little concerned as to what exactly she should be doing. The Major reached into a small bag and pulled out her alchemy text book.

"Start reading chapter seven. It's a little ahead of your lessons, but it's about bio-alchemy and its benefits." He said as Amelia opened it up, "When we arrive, you will see the rather dark side of this science, but you need to know the good that bio-alchemical research can provide to the people." Amelia opened up the chapter and started to read, figuring it would be a long train ride to East City, so it couldn't hurt to read a little between now and then.

* * *

 The rain in East City was incredibly annoying as Amelia bundled herself up more. She had spent the train ride reading about bio-alchemy, different medical stepping stones that had been passed because of the work of medical alchemists for the last hundred years, the book praising different names for their progression. She had lost interest and had tried to distract herself, but the second that she tried to do that, Hughes decided to take advantage and show pictures of his little girl to gush about her. She managed to hide behind the book and read a little more before she got overwhelmed completely.

Now she had been caught in a muggy rain that swept over the city after their train had stopped. She walked with the two military officers as she kept the alchemy textbook pressed to her chest and under her jacket. She looked around at how the streets were sparse of people except for those working in little restaurants or stores as they passed. It seemed rainy days weren't much reason for people to come outside. She would agree with that notion if she had an umbrella, but the most the Major and the Lieutenant Colonel could offer her was a trench coat that she tried to keep over her head as she walked, it was an awkward position, walking with a book to her chest under an oversized trench coat that had been tailor-fit for the Major, but she managed. She could already see a few soldiers outside when they arrived, seeing a pair of body bags being wheeled into a massive truck. She looked at the area that had been taped off, seeing tape outlines of a pair of bodies, both the size of adults.

The soldiers present saluted the Major and Lieutenant Colonel as they approached, "What is the meaning of this? Who are those two?" The Major asked, wondering what was going on.

"Sir, that is officers John Basset and Andrew Cunningham." The soldier answered, "The crime scene was being contaminated by the rain, so we are moving them to the East City morgue for examination."

"What happened?" Hughes asked.

"Sir, they were found dead this morning, as well as the alchemist and his experiment inside." The soldier answered, still standing at attention as he spoke to his superiors.

"Do we have any suspects?" The Major asked, and the soldier paused before speaking again.

"We do not have any known suspects at this time, sir." He answered, "They both seem to have suffered an internal trauma… Like their brains were blown out from the inside." His voice shook a little as he described it, and his hands shook as well. Amelia watched as this grown man got tears in his eyes and quickly went to wipe them, "I apologize for my current state, sir."

"Did you know them?" The Major asked, his voice surprisingly gentle, and the soldier nodded.

"Drew was a good man, sir. I fought with him on the Creta border during a skirmish. He was an excellent soldier." The Major nodded and put his hand on the soldier's shoulder.

"Take your time to collect yourself, the Lieutenant Colonel and I will see to the crime scene inside." He said, and he looked back at Hughes who nodded, the two of them heading inside with Amelia trailing behind. No one seemed to notice her as she stepped inside the rather large house. It was nice looking, though still a bit dirty. She walked into the front room which had a clear view of the kitchen, where dirty dishes were piled up in the sink, and there were boxes everywhere she looked. It was like someone was still trying to get used to this place after moving in. There were a few soldiers in different rooms, but most of them were headed upstairs or down into what looked like the entrance to a basement.

She thought it was odd how none of the soldiers questioned her presence, but since she came in with a Major and a Lieutenant Colonel, she guessed it might not have been that odd to see. She wondered if everyone knew the Major had an alchemy apprentice by now, she didn't know how fast gossip traveled among soldiers, but she knew it could travel quickly enough.

Among the soldiers was a familiar face that Amelia recognized right away and blurted out, "Explosion dude!"

Roy Mustang looked over at the exclamation with a quirked brow and confused frown, "Excuse me?" Amelia's face flushed in embarrassment when she realized she had said that out loud.

"Amelia, you remember Colonel Mustang," Armstrong said, reminding her of his name, "He assisted us in Central when Isaac McDougal was loose in the city."

"Yeah, I remember." She said, coming up to him, holding out her hand for him to shake, "Sorry about before, that's kind of what I've been calling you in my head…" She felt a little ashamed now that she was saying it to his face, but she did need to give some kind of excuse for the name.

"Well, I suppose we've never formally met so you wouldn't have known." The Colonel sounded a little irritated, but he seemed willing to put it aside as he shook her hand, "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist."

"It's nice to meet you," Amelia said, pulling her hand away.

"It's good to see you, Roy." Hughes said as he came up behind Amelia, "Though I wish it was under better circumstances, I'd rather be sharing a drink."

"Believe me, we can get one after this day is over." Roy said, "It's not exactly good to look at upstairs."

"So what happened?" Hughes asked.

"We're not sure, but it looks like something blew them up from inside." Roy said, "It's like nothing we've ever seen before." Hughes looked up at Armstrong, sharing a knowing gaze, the two of them already had an idea of who it was, especially considering that their alchemist killer was spotted getting on a train in Central Station. "I've already called some of my men to come over, the lieutenant should be here any minute now."

"Can you give us a bit more detail about what happened?" The Major asked, "Did anyone see anything? Or hear anything? Any witnesses to speak of?"

Amelia started to tune out at this point, growing bored with the conversation as Hughes and Armstrong tried to get some more answers out of Roy about what happened that killed Shou Tucker and his daughter after they came all this way to arrest him.

As the three soldiers spoke to each other, getting filled in on the specifics, she noticed that in the other room, there were some cages. She was a little curious about them since they were so small looking, about the size of a globe, all stacked on top of one another. She came closer to one, not really seeing anything in the shadow of the dimly lit room, only to see something glaring at her in the dark shadow. A pair of heads jumped out, small claws grabbed at the bars as the creature inside snarled and growled, one head biting at the bars, the other snapping at her between them. She jumped at first when the creature tried to bite her, but let out a shriek when she realized _the heads were attached to the same body_. It looked almost like a kind of weird puppy that sat like a frog. The beady eyes glared at her ferociously and she was horrified and afraid of it despite being five times its size. It was disgusting to look at, but also saddening in that she knew this thing wasn't natural, someone went out of their way to _make_ this thing. She looked in the other cages to see other monstrosities the likes of which she had never imagined. Some had scales and teeth that were too big for their mouths, others were furry with four or six legs, she even saw one that looked like a giant cockroach with teeth. She reeled back until she hit a piece of furniture and almost fell back if it hadn't been for someone grabbing her by the shoulders from behind and righting herself.

She looked up to see the Major standing behind her and was the one that caught her, "Are you alright? We heard you scream." She looked over to the side to see the Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel Mustang were looking at her as well.

She pointed at the cage, "What the hell is that thing?!" She asked, "It's got two heads! Normal animals don't have two heads!"

"It's a chimera." Roy answered, "Shou Tucker was the Sewing Life Alchemist, he specialized in chimeras like these."

" _These_ are chimeras?!" She couldn't believe it, though she had been given a very brief and vague description of chimeras on the train and from the alchemy textbook, this wasn't what she had in mind, "This is what you alchemists do to animals?! That's sick!" She pointed at the creature still gnawing on its cage bars, "Look at that thing! That's not right! Animals don't have two heads and they sure as hell don't look like _that_!"

"Amelia, please calm yourself." Armstrong said, "They're simple chimeras, that's-"

" _Simple?!_ " She glared up at him, "You look at those things and tell me that's _simple?!_ That's not simple, it's unnatural and it's not right! Is this what alchemists do with animals?! That's disgusting! It's _sick_ and it's so fucking _wrong_!"

"Amelia, you're becoming hysterical." Armstrong said, trying to soothe her.

"Maybe your student should wait outside." Roy said, "If she sees what's upstairs, this might be worse."

"What's upstairs?" She demanded, glaring at him, "What the fuck happened upstairs?" When the colonel didn't answer her immediately, she immediately started to run that way, wanting to know what else alchemists had done.

"Amelia stop!" The Major called after her.

"You can't go up there, civilians aren't allowed!" Hughes called, but she wasn't listening as her feet pounded up the wooden stairs, all three men following after her as she ran to the first room she could find, seeing a couple of soldiers with cameras and tarps to preserve the two bodies on the floor, taking pictures so they could analyze them later. One was a man, and she could see the inside of his head, a hole large enough to fit her fist inside exposed his brain with blood staining the floor around him. Next to him was something that almost looked like a dog with long brown hair that was almost like a mane down its back, it had the same thing as the man done to it, a large hole in its head exposing everything inside its skull.

She froze when she saw the bodies and barely had time to comprehend them before the Major grabbed her and pulled her away from it, quickly pulling her out the door and out of the room. "Amelia, you must not go in there. You shouldn't see something like that."

"What the fuck was that?" She asked, her focus more on the man than the bigger creature that was dead next to him, "His head was…"

"We know." Roy spoke up, "What you saw was Shou Tucker and the remains of his chimera made from his daughter."

"That thing was a person?!" She almost screamed, "That's fucking-- That's _sick!_ That's sick, who does that?! It didn't even look human!"

"Amelia!" The Major's voice shook her down to her core and he got down on her eye level to make her focus on him, his hands on her shoulders to hold her still, "You should not be here. And we cannot investigate if you are being hysterical like this." He stood up, towering over her, "As your teacher I am ordering you to wait outside until we have finished and you have calmed down."

"But--!"

"We will discuss this later." He said in a firm tone that succinctly ended their conversation. Amelia said nothing, and she felt the Major putting his arms on her shoulder, "Just wait outside, this investigation will not be more than a few minutes. Perhaps the rain will help you cool down." He said, and he turned into the room, asking one of the soldiers there to escort his student outside where she wouldn't interfere with the investigation, and one did so. He walked with her until she was outside, and she pulled the trench coat up over her head again, looking back as the soldier closed the doors and she was left alone in the front yard of the house.

She sighed as she fumed over what she had seen. She couldn't imagine that someone would willingly take two animals and try to mush them together like that. What she saw wasn't animals, they were abominations, and she couldn't think of how they were put together like they were and still live. Did that mean those animals were transmuted alive and aware of what was happening? Did they cry out as their bodies were deconstructed to be remade into something else? Did Shou Tucker's daughter cry out for her father when he transmuted her? She shook her head and she let out a groan as she knew these thoughts were only making matters worse. Yes, this was disgusting, but what could she do? She didn't know if it was even possible to undo that kind of transmutation. Theoretically, she knew that in alchemy if you broke something down to its core elements you could rebuild it into anything you wanted with the right amount of energy input from the alchemist, but when it was something alive? When you mixed up their bodies to where they were still somehow alive as they were deconstructed? And when they continued to live could you risk pulling those bodies apart without killing the things that were transmuted?

She didn't like the answers she was coming up with and she moved the trench coat down from her head with a sigh. She felt the rain on her face, letting her mind go blank for a moment as she took a couple of deep breaths. She stopped thinking about it, and for a moment she actually did feel better, more calm. She looked ahead of her, looking around the front yard seeing it was pretty empty, not a lot of toys or gardens, not even a dog house. If she didn't know any better, she would say there was no way a child or a dog lived here, save for the little piles of poop she could see in the corner along the walls of the property. She looked at the opening gate for the walls, and she could see one soldier posted there, and no one else.

Only one soldier outside? She looked back behind her and saw that there was no one else outside, either. In the windows she could see the silhouettes of the investigators, but no one was actually looking outside, their focus was on the bodies.

Her heart started to race as she realized this was an opportunity to escape.

There was no one watching save for that one soldier, and if she didn't act like she was running… Could she?

She took a deep breath in and out, thinking it was at least worth a shot as she started to walk to the gates, not run. If she ran, she looked guilty, she knew that much, she still held the alchemy textbook under her massive coat as she pulled it up over her head again. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she came closer to the guard that stood at the gate. He was standing at attention, looking straight ahead across the street, but she knew better than to think he wasn't looking everywhere else, too. Her grip tightened on her textbook as she mentally told herself to relax or she might give herself away.

She came up to the gate next to him, and he looked at her. She simply cleared her throat with a nod and said, "Afternoon."

He nodded in turn and she turned away from him, walking down the sidewalk. Her heart kept pounding in her chest as she got further and further away from the gates of the Tucker house, and as she turned a corner at the end of the block, she looked back and noticed no one was following her. She had… She had actually done it? Just like that?

She almost couldn't believe it, but she wasn't about to let this opportunity pass to where she might find a way back home and get out of this weird country, and she took off running down the sidewalk in the direction of the train station she had come from.

 


	9. Scar

Hughes looked over the tarp-covered corpses with a deep-set scowl on his face, "He's always one step ahead of us." He said. He was disappointed that not only had this bastard been taken by Scar, but he didn't have the chance to speak to Tucker himself and give him a piece of his mind about what he had done, father to father.

"We better catch up to him quickly, because the way things are going…" Major Armstrong didn't finish his sentence, both him and Hughes known the implications of not catching this alchemist killer.

Roy looked between the two of them with a frown, having no idea what they were talking about, and he didn't like it. He couldn't afford to be out of the loop if he was to fulfill his plans to become Fuhrer. And the fact that the Central investigations department had arrived for this, and knew what was going on, he liked that even less. "You sound as though you were expecting this." His friends looked over at him at his words, almost like they had forgotten he was there, "Fill me in."

Hughes didn't look pleased with his request and he sighed, "Fine, but not here. We might as well put away the paperwork while we talk in private." He didn't want news like this getting out and causing a panic in East City if he could help it.

"Whatever works." Mustang didn't care how he got his information so long as he got it. "We'll grab your student on the way out." Mustang nodded to the Major as he said this, the three of them making their way out just as a car pulled up on the scene.

"She had quite the violent reaction to chimeras, I hope this hasn't damaged any appreciation she had for the alchemic arts." The Major worried over his young student.

"Well, so long as she's calm I think we'll be okay," Hughes said as they made their way out the front door, seeing only one person standing in the yard as she saluted them.

"At ease, Lieutenant," Roy said. The Major looked around, his figure towering over the walls of the property easily, but not seeing any sign of his student anywhere.

"Reporting as ordered, sir." The lieutenant said as she lowered her hand, "How is the investigation going?"

"We've apparently got a suspect," Roy looked back at Hughes who came up to her.

"We'll fill you in on the way to East Headquarters." He said, he looked back over his shoulder to see the Major was making his way to the sides of the house, "Major, what are you doing?"

"Amelia is gone." Armstrong turned around, and Hughes immediately stiffened.

"There was a guard here, she couldn't have just left." Roy went over to the one that stood at his post, "You, soldier." The man stood at attention and saluted him, "There was a girl out here a while ago, what happened?"

"Sir, she left." The guard answered.

"Where did she leave?" Roy asked, and the soldier's face paled a little as he realized he had done something he wasn't supposed to.

"Sir, I didn't ask." Roy frowned at his response.

"Did you know that girl was a convicted felon? And you just let her walk away?" He growled out.

"I-I didn't know she was a felon, sir!" The man's voice wavered out of nervousness as he spoke to his angry superior.

"Well, did she say anything to you before she left?" Roy asked him another question.

"Yes, sir." And the group started to feel a little relief at knowing there was some clue, "She said, 'afternoon' before she left, sir." And that killed the relief they felt.

"Damn it." Hughes cursed under his breath, "If we don't get her back, this means all kinds of trouble."

Armstrong's eyes were wide as he looked down the streets, the rain having washed away any chance of tracking her, especially on pavement. His student had escaped…

* * *

Amelia kept running until she was sure she had put a good distance between herself and the Tucker house. She still had trouble believing that she had actually managed to get away, but she had. She felt her adrenaline pounding through her veins as she made her way to the train station. The rain still came down and she still had the trench coat over her head with her textbook still under her arm. She had this chance, she should take it! Even though she wasn't really sure where she was going to go, she just needed to find a map first… and then maybe get a better lay of the land, find a way home somehow.

Though as she walked further in the direction she thought the train station was, the less certain she was that it was the right way. She looked up at buildings she didn't recognize, seeing signs that didn't look familiar at all… she hadn't been paying attention to any of this when she was making the way from the train station to the crime scene, but she couldn't have known it would be this easy to get away from her alchemy teacher and the military. She kept walking, thinking it would be good to ask someone for directions, though not a lot of people were out and about in the rain. Still, there had to be someone around here that she could ask, so she kept walking.

As she came around a block, she noticed a pair of soldiers talking at the end of the sidewalk, and she froze for a second. She had no idea if they knew her as Armstrong's student or not, but she didn't want to risk them recognizing her and dragging her back. She ducked into an alley to hide as she watched them turn and start to make their way up the sidewalk. She ran until she came to a set of boxes and crouched down behind them, looking out to see if the soldiers had noticed her in her hiding place. Her hands gripped at the alchemy textbook tighter as she hid, waiting for them to pass. As they started to round the corner, she ducked back and pressed herself so that she was completely hidden by the boxes.

What she now realized since she was no longer facing the soldiers was that this hiding spot was already occupied. She looked over to see a man beside her in a yellow jacket, with dark skin and white hair. Smoked spectacles hid his eyes, but not the massive scar over his face. She felt her heart racing as she realized she must have found the spot next to him without realizing, but she felt a little relief as he brought a finger up to his lips, the universal symbol of keeping quiet as he pointed to the backs of the two chatting soldiers as they went past the alley. So he was hiding from them, too?

When the soldiers were gone, he stood, and so did she. She looked up at him, seeing that his scar was in the shape of an X… Why did that seem to ring warning bells in her head? "Um, thanks for not giving me away." She said.

"You're hiding from the military as well?" The man asked in a gruff voice that intimidated her a little, but she nodded anyway.

"I'm technically an escaped convict. Well… 'escaped' as in I escaped just now." She didn't know why she was telling this man, he could easily turn her in! She already cursed herself for saying it, but as she looked up at him, she saw no sign he would give her away to someone else. But his eyes weren't focused on her, but on the book she held to her chest.

"You're an alchemist?" He said the word in a way that made her think he wasn't someone who liked that. She looked down at the book in her arms.

"I was supposed to be." She said, "I kind of made a deal to learn to be an alchemist to avoid jail time, but after what I've just seen, I'm never going to learn this stuff." She said, turning to the pile of boxes that were clearly garbage and tossing the book on top of them, watching it soak up the rainwater. "This is a really sick science, you know that? I saw these things called chimeras, they're fucking insane! Why would people just decide to break down an innocent animal and put it back together in a way it was never meant to be?!" The man said nothing in response, and she calmed herself a little, feeling a little foolish for saying that in front of him, "Well, I won't be learning it once I get to the train station and get out of here." She looked at the street behind him nervously, "You, uh, wouldn't happen to know if that street will take me there, would you?"

"The train station is over on the western side of town, most of the main roads head there." He said, and Amelia let out a little sigh of relief at getting some directions.

"Thank you so much." She stepped around him onto the street, and she paused, "Um… which way is west?" She asked, looking back at the man, who patiently pointed the correct direction. "Thank you!" She said, and she took off down the street again, keeping the trench coat over her head to keep some of the rain out of her face as she walked down the sidewalks, following the roads west. She looked back after a moment and saw that the man had gone. She shrugged off the weird feeling she felt in her gut and kept walking.

* * *

"Human foolishness never ceases to amaze me." Lust said as she looked out over the crowds of people rioting and killing each other in the streets as they carved out the crest of blood on their own accord, "Wouldn't you agree, Gluttony?"

"Fools, all of 'em!" Gluttony said as he looked out over the balcony of the church tower.

"Fools indeed, sad but true." The two figures looked over as an older man approached them, dressed in all black save for a white scarf, giving them a friendly, yet somehow devious smile as he stood at the top of the steps.

"Well, if it isn't the father." Lust greeted him.

"Yeah, father!" Gluttony greeted him as well.

"Sorry to have to put you to all of this trouble," Lust knew she wouldn't be able to keep up an act like his for too long, being the Father Cornello of the Church of Leto, leading the rioters with their idiotic beliefs in God and religion.

"As soon as we have everything handled here, I have my own responsibilities I need to get back to." The father said as he looked at her.

Lust chuckled a bit, knowing his duties weren't as great as the ones he had here, but he liked to hold himself in high regard. She saw no problem in letting him do that here, "The Fullmetal boy's interference _was_ irritating, but at least we were able to make it work in our favor." She said as she looked back out over the rising towers of smoke from fires, "Looks like we'll finish up ahead of schedule."

"Manipulate a little information, spout some empty rhetoric to the believers, and you have a fine recipe for instant violence." The father said, looking out over the same view. "Humans are such simple creatures."

"Bloodshed gives way to more bloodshed, hatred breeds more hatred, until all of the violence soaks into the land, carving rivers of blood." It was a phrase they had said over and over again for hundreds of years as they created skirmishes and wars and riots such as these, "And no matter how many times it happens, they never learn. The human race is made up of violent, miserable fools."

"Who seem more than willing to play into our hands." The father commented, and Lust smiled.

"Are lots of people gonna die again?" Gluttony asked as he looked over the balcony.

"Yes, they will." Lust answered him.

"Ooh, can I eat all of them after they die?!" Gluttony asked eagerly, looking up at her hopefully.

Lust raised her hand to push down his bald head as she said, "No, you may not." and killed his enthusiasm for the moment. She looked over at the father, "By the way, Envy," The man looked up at the mention of his name, "Could you lose the old man costume? It's rather unattractive."

"Come on, I was just staying in character." He defended himself, but he shrugged, "But if you insist," He was surrounded by the red light of transmutation as his body grew smaller, thinner, more lean and muscular, his voice changing with his face, "This time around, I'll go with a younger, cuter model. What do you say?" By the end, he changed to a young man with long green hair that fanned out around his body in thick strands. He smiled at Lust with his new appearance, having putting a lot of thought into making himself look like this.

"A-A monster!" A shaking voice cried out from behind him. Envy turned to see Father Cornello's right hand behind him, pale-faced and terrified at the sight of Envy's change, "What's going on here? What have you done? What have you done with the real Father Cornello?!" He demanded, despite his shaking knees.

The homunculi ignored his questions as Lust said to Envy, "It's your call."

"He said I was a _monster_ , I think that's quite rude, don't you?" He said with a noncommittal shrug.

"Can I eat him? Can I?" Gluttony asked, jumping at the opportunity to have a meal. The other two looked over at their fat and constantly hungry companion who had the widest grin on his dim face. The man went pale as he looked at the fat man that asked if he could eat him.

"Go ahead." Lust gave her permission, one of her fingers shooting out to go through the man's head. They didn't need him screaming anymore and bringing more attention their way. Gluttony let out a gleeful cheer as he went to the slumped corpse of the freshly dead man, biting into his leg and starting to chew through the bone. Envy, not wanting to get any of the blood on his new look, came over to the balcony as Gluttony ate away at his snack.

"Oh, hey, d'you hear the news?" Lust looked over at her companion as he spoke, "Shou Tucker, that alchemist in East City? He's dead."

"Tucker? Why should we care about a little nothing like him?" She asked, wondering why he was bringing it up.

"Because it was _him_ who was responsible for the murder." Though a name wasn't spoken, they both knew who he meant. The man had been killing potential sacrifices left and right, and none of them were happy about that.

"Speaking of East City," Lust changed the subject with a deep-set frown, "Isn't that where the flame colonel's staying right now?"

"Yeah, and apparently the Fullmetal brat's there, too." Envy said, smirking a bit as he watched her angered reaction.

"Oh, is he?" Lust's brow furrowed as she only grew more angry at the thought of the Fullmetal Alchemist, "As furious as I am that he interfered with our work here, we can't very well let him die. He's an important sacrifice. We'll find some way of handling the situation."

"Yay, that was so yummy!" Gluttony cried out now that he had finished his snack, licking off the remains of blood on his fingers as the other two continued speaking.

"Tell me about the other alchemist that went into Central." Lust said, "I heard there's some promise?"

"The reports said she just appeared out of nowhere on top of a transmutation circle in the middle of the barracks." Envy said to her, "Wrath said the girl claims to be from a separate location entirely, another country."

"Which one?"

"None that we've ever heard of." Envy shrugged, "Probably some tiny nation in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't really matter."

"No, I suppose not." Lust said, "Still, teleportation through alchemy is very unusual."

"Wrath thought putting her with someone sentimental would ready her for it." Envy said, "The Strong Arm Alchemist doesn't show a lot of promise as a sacrifice, but he is a pretty big cry baby."

"Very true." Lust agreed with a small laugh, "I take it that means we wait until the opportune moment to strike that iron while it's hot?" Envy grinned even wider.

"If we give them enough time, we might just have a new sacrifice coming along." Envy said, "But we should wait for her to get properly attached to him, and then she might be tempted to open the portal if someone happens to drop the idea of human transmutation in front of her."

"How very delicious." Lust purred out, liking this plan.

* * *

 Amelia followed down the streets, greeting a few people on the way as they walked past with a friendly smile and a nod. So far, no one seemed to recognize her, but these were civilians and she wasn't particularly worried about them. Still, she continued on the way she thought was west as the man had pointed out, but she had to take a few twists and turns here and there. The city was old, and it had the old roads that she would see in older towns, ones that traveled old pioneer tracks rather than just easy squares and boxes. She wasn't really used to it, and she soon found herself lost again.

She was just outside a park, looking over to her left she could see some kind of building with a clock tower at the top, and stairs leading up to it. In between the stairs was the same crest she had seen a few times on the walls around the office where the Major worked. She guessed it was the country's symbol or flag or something. She was used to seeing American flags everywhere, so seeing this new green one, with a picture of some kind of weird dragon with ribbon around it, was a little jarring for her. "At least you know this is a military town." She muttered as she looked up at the clock tower, seeing that it was a minute away from four o'clock, only to see it chime out loudly from a bell inside the clock tower.

When the chimes ended, she saw a bright light that she recognized from her first night in Central City, when the Major performed his transmutations. She could even hear the dull echo of the rapid reaction of transmutations, and part of her was curious as to what was going on, exactly. She could hear a voice yell, "Let's go, Al! Run for it!" before she saw two figures rushing for the stairs, one dressed in a massive suit of armor, and the other in a long red coat with blonde hair. She remembered them, too, the weird guys that ran alongside the Major that day! They were brothers, right?

Behind them stalked a figure that was even more familiar yet, dark skin and a yellow coat, it was the man she had seen before who gave her directions. She watched while the pair of brothers ran down the stairs, to have the scarred man destroy the stone balcony at the top of the building and jump down to meet them. Her eyes went wide as she watched him destroy the stairs the brothers stood on, the armored boy grabbing at the edge of the destroyed stairs as he grabbed his brother by the foot. The scarred man destroyed the stairs completely and she watched their bodies fall with a wince. The height wasn't enough to kill or maim, but it definitely looked like it hurt as the armored boy fell on his back, with the blonde landing on his knees. They tried to get away with a transmutation of their own, making the earth shoot up to get them further away, only to have the scarred man destroy the base of it so it clattered and came apart on the road as the brothers tried to land and run down the hill to get away.

Now she remembered why those alarms had gone off in her head when she met him. A man with a large scar on his face in the shape of an "X." He was the alchemist killer she had heard about, and now he was going after the alchemist brothers she had met! She had been that close to an alchemist murderer and never realized it. She could feel her body shaking as she heard the sounds of rocks crumbling while the brothers tried to get away.

She had to do something, she couldn't just leave them like that! This man was a mass murderer aimed specifically at people like them! She started to run down the hill as well, and was a little surprised at how she was not only able to keep pace with the brothers, but also in how she wasn't as out of breath as she thought she would be after a minute. Maybe this was the Major's training regiment kicking in? She didn't really dwell on it too much as she ran down the street, running on the other side that the brothers were on, not wanting to be seen by the killer as she ran past civilians and eventually got down to an alleyway. She ran through it, seeing that she had gone a little faster than the brothers and could still see them running as they got to the base of the hill, hearing the shouted thoughts as the blonde thought out loud, "Dammit, what the hell is this guy's problem? Making enemies isn't something that I… Well… I never really avoided it, but there's no reason someone should be trying to kill me!"

"Hey!" She shouted at them to get their attention, "This way!" She ran back into the alley, hearing their footsteps following her as they turned a corner, taking the way out she offered. She ran down the alley, and she heard that same echoing sound that came with transmutation, looking to her side as she saw light flowing along the wall as they ran and down to the alley, seeing the walls crumble and explode once it reached it. She felt a hand pulling her back before she was caught under the rubble and she fell on her ass, hard. She looked up to see the armored one had grabbed her, "Thanks." She said quickly, glad to be saved by him.

"Who are you, anyway?!" The blonde shouted and she looked back to see the killer standing at the other end of the alley, "Why are you after us?!"

"As long as there are creators like you in the world, there must also be destroyers." The man answered him.

"It looks like we're gonna have to fight." The blonde said. She watched as he clapped his hands and reached for one of the pipes that fell in the building's rubble, seeing it turn into a hand-held blade without a transmutation circle. Her eyes went a little wide at the sight of it, seeing the armored one stand up as well. They both took a fighting stance, while Amelia stayed where she was on the ground. She had no fighting experience, and she could feel her arms and legs shaking out of fear. This guy was going to kill them, and maybe her too. She had never been faced with a situation like this, and her mind had gone blank, she couldn't think of any options to get out as she stared at the man, who smirked at the sight of the brothers' eagerness to fight him.

"Gutsy one, aren't you?" And the two boys charged him with their own war cries, watching as the man quickly moved between them, "Too slow." He said as his hand reached for the side of the armored one, and she watched his armor explode into a crater. Her eyes went even wider when her brain realized there was no body in that armor. It was totally empty. She felt a chill run up her spine as she wondered just what the hell she was dealing with in this place as she stared at the man, who looked down at the fallen armor with as much shock as she did.

"Al!" The blonde turned around with a vicious look in his eyes, his blade held up high as he charged him again, "You _bastard!_ " The man caught his arm before he could attack.

"You're too slow." He said, and she watched as the light came from a transmutation, but nothing happened other than the blonde getting pushed back, his blade dropping and sliding over not too far from her. Still, something should have happened there, right? She saw the blonde had gotten pushed and tumbled back, his coat falling over his eyes.

"Damn it!" He cursed as he threw off the coat, and she saw the _completely metal arm_ that had been hiding underneath it.

"An automail arm," The man said as he stepped closer to the end of the alley, his focus on him rather than the armored boy, or herself, "That explains why my attacks didn't do the damage I expected. Most unusual."

She watched the blonde clap his hands together before putting one over the apparently automail arm, seeing a blade coming forward from it and extending past his hand. "Brother, don't! Just run away!" The armor pleaded as it could barely move from his spot.

"You idiot! I'm not gonna leave you behind, Al!" The blonde shouted back.

"You press your hands together to make a ring and then you perform transmutation," The man noted his observations out loud, "Now I see," the blonde brother made to charge, but he caught his arm again, one hand on the wrist, and the other on his shoulder, "Then I shall start by destroying this abhorrent right arm of yours!" She watched as the metal exploded into pieces, flying out across the street, the boy being thrown back. "Now you will not be able to use your heretic's alchemy." The blonde looked up at the man with wide eyes, and to Amelia he looked so horribly vulnerable, she could see he was as young as she was, and just as scared.

"Brother!" Al shouted at him, wanting him to run away, Amelia saw him trying to crawl back, first with his flesh arm, but his other arm was gone, so he fell on his side when he tried to use it like it was still there. Amelia looked over at the armor as he looked back at her. Even though there was no expression she could read, he was silently pleading with her to save his brother. Her gaze went down to the blade that the other one had transmuted earlier, hearing her heartbeat in her ears as her shaking hands reached for it.

"I will give you a moment to pray to God." The man said as he approached the blonde, who wasn't moving from his spot, he had given up.

"Brother! Run away! _Brother!_ " Al shouted as Amelia picked up the blade, holding it out as she stood up. She could feel her knees shaking as she looked at the man's back as he walked closer to the blonde brother.

"Unfortunately, there isn't any God I'd like to pray to." She could hear him speaking in a dull tone, like he really had given up and he was ready for this moment. "Am I the only one you're trying to kill today? Or are you going after my brother Al, too?"

"If he interferes, I will eliminate him." The man said, "But Fullmetal Alchemist, you are the only one who is receiving judgment today. You alone." Amelia slowly stepped forward, the threat of her elimination in the air if she tried to stop him. She could still feel her hands shaking as she held out the blade, stepping closer to him slowly, still behind Al and his remains.

"Okay…" She watched the Fullmetal Alchemist lift up his head, "In that case, I want your word, promise me you won't hurt my brother!"

Al gasped at the mention of it, and the man replied with, "I will keep that promise."

"No… Brother, what are you trying to do?" Al asked in a pleading voice, "What are you thinking?! Run! Get up and _run!_ " The man reached for his head, "No! Don't touch him! Stop!" Amelia felt if there was any time, she had to act now, she heard Al cry out, "No, you can't! _Stop it!_ " and she ran forward with a scream of her own, only to have the man turn around and grab her by the arm and she was forced to a halt. The man paused when he recognized her from earlier, and she stared back at him, feeling hot tears running down her cheeks as she stared up at him.

Edward looked up when he heard the girl's shout, seeing her being held by her arms as the man had stopped her attack with the sword he'd made. Fear was written all over her face, brown eyes wide and watery, with pale skin, completely soaked from the rain as she stared up at him. He saw her body twitch as she held back sobs, hearing the hitches in her breath as she stared at him with grit teeth as she tried not to cry and failed horribly.

"Y-You can't… just…" Her words were shaky, her entire body trembled as she stared at him, her words broken apart by the gasps from her sobs, her hands dropping the blade as she saw the man glaring at her, he still held her by her hand. Edward and the girl both knew she was going to die now that she had interfered, but their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gun going off, and they turned to see a military squad had come, with Roy Mustang leading them.

"That's enough!" Roy announced, still holding his gun in the air, "You won't be killing anyone else today, Scar." He addressed the man with the name he had been given by their investigations department. "I am taking you into custody, where you will answer for the murders of at least ten state alchemists." Amelia was dropped by the man known as Scar as he turned to face the squad of military soldiers. She fell to her knees beside Edward as she looked over the squad, seeing a couple familiar faces of soldiers that had been with her when she was in prison, Breda and Havoc. Her breath had calmed as she looked at them, the shock of the situation making her stay still as she looked out over the group.

"Alchemists alter things from their natural form, perverting them to something else, something grotesque." Scar said as he faced them, "They profane God, the true creator of all things. As an agent of God, I am here to hand down his judgment. If you interfere, I will eliminate you as well."

Roy smirked at the challenge, "Oh, is that right?" He reached back to give his gun to a shocked Lieutenant Hawkeye, "You guys stay out of it."

"Colonel Mustang, sir!" Hawkeye protested, and Scar straightened at his name.

"Colonel Mustang, so this is the Flame Alchemist." He flexed his hand and stepped away from Amelia and Edward, "Volunteering yourself to receive judgment," He made a charge towards Mustang, "This is truly an auspicious day!"

"So you know who I am, and you still want to challenge me?" Roy asked, keeping his leisurely pace while his lieutenant started to run towards him, "Bad decision." He snapped his fingers, only for nothing to come out. The lieutenant swept her feet under the colonel before Scar had a chance to grab him, making the colonel fall on the ground while she shot at Scar, making him jump back and putting some distance between him and everyone else until he ran behind the corner of a building to avoid her gun fire. "Hey, Hawkeye! What the hell'd you do that for?!" The colonel shouted angrily.

"You know as well as I do you're useless on rainy days. Please stand back." She said, and the colonel felt like he had been slapped in the face with his uselessness and his stupidity for forgetting that.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. It's kind of hard to get a spark going when it's rainy, huh?" Havoc said as he held out his hand to catch a few raindrops as they fell.

"It is fortunate that you can't create your blasphemous flames, state alchemist." Scar's voice came from where he was hiding behind the building, not seeing the hulking man that was coming up from behind him, "For I will destroy all who interfere with my mission right here and now!"

Armstrong raised up his gloved fist as he said, "I'd like to see you try it!" And slammed it down, to have Scar jump out of the way while the Major had left a rather large hole in the ground of the street.

"A newcomer?!" Scar growled at the sight of him.

"You have to be quick to avoid my fist!" Armstrong said, sounding impressed as he straightened himself, "Not bad, not bad at all." He stood and faced Scar, "You said you were going to destroy us all? In that case, why don't you start by defeating me?! We'll see how you fair against the Strong Arm Alchemist, Alex Louis Armstrong!" He challenged him as Hawkeye and Havoc ran over to Edward and Amelia, helping Edward to sit up as they came closer to the two of them, to keep them safe.

"Yet another state alchemist; God is putting them in my path for me." Scar said as he glared at Armstrong.

"Not backing down? In that case, your courage will earn you a demonstration!" Armstrong grabbed a chunk of the rubble he had made, looking at Scar with fiery determination as he held it up, "I'll show you the art of alchemy that has been passed down the Armstrong family for generations!" He threw the rubble up in the air and punched it with his glove, watching it transmute into a massive metal projectile that Scar just barely managed to avoid.

Amelia, leaned into the touch of whatever soldier was holding her as she watched the fight, glancing over to look at the blonde brother as he was in the same state as her, "Who is he?" He asked.

"That's the same man who murdered Mr. Tucker and his daughter." Havoc answered. Ed looked at him in shock, and then back at Scar.

"It's him?!"

The Major punched the ground, and Amelia watched as spikes grew up from the pavement, only to have Scar cut the one that would have pierced him in half with his own transmutations.

"Major, watch what you're doing! We don't want to destroy the city, do we?!" Havoc snapped at the Major.

"What do you mean?" Armstrong asked before he took off his shirt to show off his muscles as he spoke, "Destruction and creation are two sides of the same coin. You must destroy to create! That is the law of the universe!"

"Did he _have_ to strip?" Hawkeye muttered.

"Are you surprised? He's clearly insane." Havoc said under his own breath.

Armstrong only gave a small laugh, "Non-alchemists may fail to see the inherent truth in that statement, but we understand, don't we Scar?" He asked his enemy, who stood before him still uninjured. Amelia's eyes widened as she realized he was an alchemist just like the Major, but he was only destroying things…

"So this killer is an alchemist, too." Roy said.

"That's it." Edward said, struck by his realization, "The stages for the transmutation process is construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction. This guy must just stop at the deconstruction phase."

"But if Scar is an alchemist as well, doesn't that mean he's strayed from whatever his ways of God are, too?" Havoc was confused by the situation, "So why is he killing state alchemists? What's the motive?"

Armstrong punched the ground once more, rubble flying up to push Scar back, which he easily deterred with a swing of his arm so that he wasn't hurt from any of it. He charged at him, trying to get in a few punches with a boxing stance that Scar was able to avoid easily enough. He dodged until his back was against a wall, "I have you cornered, Scar!" Armstrong made to hit him, as Scar reached out, only to hurriedly jump back and Amelia looked up as a rifle was pointed at him, and Lieutenant Hawkeye fired off three rounds, two going in the wall, but one managed to hit him, sort of. His glasses fell to the ground, and so did his blood from where he had been hit.

"Did you get him?" Roy asked.

"He's too fast, I only grazed him with one shot." Hawkeye said, sounding a little disappointed in herself, but as everyone looked, Amelia could see that this man had red eyes as he glared at all of them. She heard her teacher gasp when he saw it and she looked over, and he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Red eyes and brown skin, that means he's…"

"Of course, he's an Ishvalan!" Roy exclaimed as he realized why this man was attacking them to begin with, though Amelia was completely lost. The fighting had stopped as Scar looked at all the guns aimed at him, and didn't look pleased with the state of things, "You might as well give up, Scar. You're not getting away."

Scar didn't listen as he put his hand to the ground, everyone covering their eyes from the blinding transmutation and stepping back from the ground as it shook and exploded into dust. When they looked back, there was a huge hole in the ground that led to the sewers, filled with rubble.

"Bastard is in the sewers…" Havoc growled out.

"Stay put, don't follow him in." Mustang ordered.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Havoc replied with a dry chuckle as he looked at the remains.

Armstrong made his way over to the colonel, his uniform back on his shoulders, though still open since he hadn't bothered to button it yet, "Sorry, Armstrong. But thank you for buying us enough time to surround him." Mustang said to him as the pair looked into the hole Scar had escaped through.

Armstrong shook his head dismissively, "I was hardly buying time, it was all I could do to keep myself from getting killed."

"Oh? Is it over now?" A voice piped up, and the two men looked back to see Hughes coming forward.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, where have you been this whole time?" Armstrong asked.

"I thought it best to lay low." Hughes replied.

"You didn't think about maybe backing us up?!" Roy snapped at him.

"Of course not!" Hughes' reply only seemed to make Roy angrier, "A person like me shouldn't get dragged into a freak show with you pack of pseudo-humans! It's bad for my health!" He turned to the other soldiers, "Don't just stand there, we've got things to do! Deploy troops, circulate his description!" The others saluted him with a "Yes, sir!" before running to do as he said.

"Oh, no, Alphonse." Edward got up and ran to his brother, who had managed to get put up beside a wall to sit instead of lying on his belly, "Alphonse!" He put his hand on his brother's armor, looking at him with concern, "Al, talk to me, are your alright?"

Amelia felt someone pulling her up and she looked up to see her teacher helping her to stand as Edward tried to figure out if his brother was okay.

"So… is that suit of armor his younger brother?" Amelia asked, looking over at the two of them.

"There's got be a long story behind this one." Havoc muttered as he stepped a little closer to the sight of them talking. When Edward kept asking his brother if he was okay, he was met with a punch in the face that sent him stumbling back.

"Why didn't you run away when I told you to?!" Alphonse demanded, "What kind of idiot are you?!"

"No way! I'm not just gonna run away and leave you behind!" Edward snapped back angrily.

"This is exactly why you're an idiot!" Alphonse yelled before he punched his brother again, watching as Edward was pushed onto his backside as he held the spot Al punched.

"What do you keep punching me like that for?" Edward asked, "If I had run away, you could have been killed, you know that?"

"And maybe I wouldn't have been!" Al snapped, "Making the decision to die is something only an idiot does!"

"Hey, easy on the idiot stuff, I'm still your older brother, got it?!"

"I'll say it all I want to!" Al reached out and grabbed his brother shirt, pulling him closer so he could look at him, "Survival is the only way, Ed. Live on, learn more about alchemy. You could find a way to get our bodies back and help people like Nina. You can't do that by dying!" Edward gaped at his brother as he lectured him, "I won't allow you to abandon the possibility of hope and choose a meaningless death!" There was some clattering and Alphonse's arm fell off, which only seemed to make the situation worse, "Oh, great! And now my arm's come off because my brother's a big, fat idiot!" Edward grimaced at the sight of the fallen arm and hung his head.

He laughed to himself as he said, "We're really falling apart, aren't we, brother?" He smiled wryly to himself, "We look like we belong in a junkyard."

Al was quiet for a moment before he said, "...But we're still alive." Edward nodded.

"We are."

Hughes looked at the show with a small grimace, "Good grief, I've stumbled into an extra-special kind of freak show, huh?" He asked, earning a chuckle from the colonel.

"Yeah, sorry." He apologized to his friend.

Hughes shrugged it off, "Hey, don't worry, I won't tell anyone upstairs. If this got out, things would get complicated."

"Yeah, the older brother aside, I wouldn't even know how to begin to explain the younger brother's body." Roy agreed. They watched as Hawkeye and Havoc came over, with Hawkeye putting her military jacket over Ed's shoulders to warm him as the rain stopped, and the sun started to come out. Amelia stayed beside her teacher, trailing behind him as he came over to check on the boys himself.

Hughes looked over at his friend with a sympathetic grin, "I don't envy you. This is one tough customer you're dealing with."

"And now we know he's Ishvalan…" Mustang knew this explained a lot of things, but it still didn't make his job any easier.

Amelia stayed just behind her teacher as he smiled gently at the younger brother, "You took quite a beating there, Alphonse. We'll make sure to pick up every piece of you that we can find."

"Thank you, Major." Alphonse said, and he looked back behind his shoulder to see Amelia standing there, holding tight to her too-large trench coat that she had been given, "It's Amelia, right?" She looked up when he called her name.

"Um, yeah." She said with a small nod.

"Thank you for trying to help us." Alphonse said, and Amelia frowned, looking down sadly.

"No, don't thank me… I could hardly do anything." She said quietly, frustrated and ashamed of how little she could do in that moment other than be terrified and make a futile attack.

"But you still tried to help, even when you were so scared." Alphonse said encouragingly, making her lift her head, "That means a lot to me, so thank you."

Amelia blushed embarrassedly at the genuine gratitude, not used to having people thank her, "But I… I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even fight, I-"

"Miss Seymour, that is enough." Her teacher cut her off and she looked over at him, "You fought against what was most likely a certain death. That kind of bravery is worthy of gratitude, you should accept his thanks with grace." She flushed as she got lectured on manners by him and she nodded.

"Y-You're welcome." She said quietly to Alphonse, her head ducking down shyly, her hands still holding onto the collar of her trench coat. He stood up and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, giving her a squeeze.

"You were remarkably brave today, Miss Seymour, and I am proud of you." He praised her, and she looked away from him. She couldn't really accept his praise in this situation, "But why did you leave the Tucker estate?" She froze at the question, knowing she would be in trouble if they knew she had been attempting to escape.

"I'm actually wondering that, too." Roy said, him and Hughes coming over to get a closer look at her. She could feel that fear starting to creep back into her body, "You were told to wait outside, what made you think it was a good idea to just run off like you did when you're a convicted felon? Were you trying to escape?"

"N-No!" She said quickly, "No, I wasn't escaping, I…" She thought of her excuse in a split second, "I saw Scar walking past the house, and I recognized his description as that alchemist killer guy." She said, speaking clearly so they could understand every word, "I was following him to see if there was anything I could do to stop him or tell you guys where he was going." She looked up at her teacher, "I _swear_ , that's what I was doing, I wasn't escaping, I was trying to help you guys!"

"I find that a little hard to believe." Hughes said as he crossed his arms, and Amelia started to panic when they didn't buy her story.

"No, really! I'm being totally honest! You think I would try to dig myself into a deeper hole by trying to escape after being threatened with jail?!" She said, her voice going up higher as she frantically tried to prove she wasn't lying when she was, "I'm not stupid, you guys run this entire country, there's nowhere I could go where you wouldn't find me. And where would I even _go_ anyway? I have no idea where my home _is_!"

Hughes and Roy shared a look before looking up at Armstrong, silently asking his opinion on the situation. He looked down at his student, who looked back at him with pleading eyes, needing him to believe her if she was going to get out of this.

"She's telling the truth." The Major said, and she let out a visible sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping over, "She's been a dutiful student, I firmly believe she was trying to help." Hughes sighed and looked over at her.

"Fine, consider this a warning. You leave without any supervision, and we'll charge you with escaping and add that onto everything else." He warned her, and she nodded quickly. So much for her escape plan going through… They were probably going to keep a much closer eye on her now, and her chance for getting out was probably going from next-to-none to none.

She looked over at the brothers as Havoc worked on getting all the pieces of Alphonse's armor while Hawkeye helped Edward to his feet. She met eyes with Edward, and she looked back, unsure of what to say. He smiled at her briefly, his own show of gratitude for what she had done, and she looked away from him with that blush coming back to her cheeks.

Maybe it wasn't so bad her plan fell through. At least she was able to help, if only as a distraction.


	10. One Step Closer

Amelia sat on the couch with Havoc and Hughes, the soldiers all a little tired from their clean-up of the city in the aftermath of Scar's attack. They still intended to investigate his escape route, so they had left that untouched for now, but otherwise they had cleaned up the bits of battle that had happened because of the Major fighting off Scar, cleaning up the spikes and fixing the walls and all that.

Amelia had been watching at the time, feeling a little useless in that she couldn't really help with clean up, and just stood in the Major's trench coat as she slowly warmed up. She was disappointed in herself for that fight, feeling like she had been so useless, even if Alphonse said otherwise. She should have been able to do something other than scream and get caught, but she couldn't have really learned how. She was lost in her thoughts of that moment, replaying it over and over again in her mind to try and figure out what she could have done better to fix it, but it never really ended well. The major had noticed her unfocused gaze and furrowed brow, and he figured she needed some encouragement. It was very quickly denied as he stripped and showed her his body, and she screeched, "Stop that! Will you  _please_  put some clothes on?! I don't want to see that!" And she covered her face with his trench coat to block the sight of her teacher half-naked.

"BEHOLD! THIS METHOD OF ENCOURAGEMENT VIA EXHIBITION HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS! SEE HOW THESE MUSCLES PULSE WITH PRIDE AND VIGOR?"

"Oh, my God, _shut up!_ " She threw the trench coat on him to cover him, "It's an exhibition, alright! You're a freaking exhibitionist in the weirdest possible sense! Good God!" She shouted at him, her hands going into her hair in frustration, "You are so  _weird!_ " When he laughed, she looked up at him, watching as he dressed himself with the trench coat she had thrown at him.

"If nothing else, at least it gave you your energy back." He said, smiling at her, "You should not dwell on what has already happened, Miss Seymour. You did all that you could, and the past cannot be changed." She relaxed a little as he spoke to her, sounding wise in a way that she hadn't really expected from him. "For now, you are my student, and I intend to teach you well enough to do more in situations like these in the future. At least then, you won't need to dwell like you are now." He promised her, one hand coming down to tousle her hair in a way that no one had ever done before. She wasn't used to such affectionate gestures, and her cheeks warmed as she shooed his hands away.

Now she sat on the couch across from her teacher, looking over at the Elric brothers as Roy Mustang had ordered an emergency meeting with his officers and everyone involved in stopping Scar, as well as figuring out what the Elrics will need to do next. In their current state, there wasn't much that they could do. Edward was missing an arm, and Alphonse's body was in too many pieces to go anywhere, he only had one arm and leg that he could use. Amelia found herself staring at the part of his armor that had been covered up, like it was a bandage almost. Though it was more likely that it was there to catch whatever pieces of him that might fall off if he was jostled too much. Still, he was an empty suit of armor, her first thought was robotics, but this place barely had good radios, robotics was out of their league in terms of technology.

"So, what are our next steps with this?" Roy's voice cut through her thoughts, bringing her attention to him as he sat at his desk, Lieutenant Hawkeye behind him. "If he's an Ishvalan, he might be hiding out in the ghettos with the others." Amelia was lost quickly, still not knowing what it meant for someone to be Ishvalan.

"It's as good a place as any, but those communities aren't exactly easy to find." Hughes said, "Trust me, they'll do everything they can to avoid Amestrians, especially the military, and I can't say I blame them."

"Um…" She wanted to ask about Scar, what all this talk was.

"That's true…" Roy muttered as he leaned forward on his desk, looking troubled, "And he's slippery, up until now we just knew about the scar on his forehead, and he had already killed ten alchemists."

"Excuse me…" Amelia tried to speak up again.

"Exactly," Hughes said, "So he might not be hiding out with any other Ishvalan communities, it's more likely that he's alone and on his own somewhere."

"Excuse me." She spoke up a little louder to get their attention and they looked over at her, "Can someone please explain what an Ishvalan is? Totally not from this country, I have no idea what anyone's talking about. Why is this guy being an Ishvalan an explanation for motive? I don't get it."

The room was quiet for a moment as she waited for someone to answer her question, and then Roy sighed, "It has to do with the Ishvalan rebellion a while back."

"Well, tell me about it. I don't want to be left out of the loop." Amelia said, wanting some context for this murderer.

"The Ishvalans were a race of people who lived to the east of us," Roy started to explain, "They believed their god Ishvala was the one absolute creator. Even after they were annexed into the country, there were still conflicts between us and them. Then, thirteen years ago, a military officer accidentally shot and killed an Ishvalan child. And that led to a full-blown civil war." Amelia's eyes widened a little bit, she didn't really know this country could have civil war like that, but she remembered someone mentioning something about the Ishvalan war, when she spoke with Strongine a while back. This must have been it. "One uprising led to another, and before long the rebellion had spread to the whole eastern sector. After seven years of this, an order came down from the military high command to exterminate Ishval." Roy shifted a bit in his seat, as well as the major and the lieutenant colonel. None of them were fond of those memories, "Many state alchemists were brought into act as human weapons. Needless to say, the state alchemists produced striking results. That man is an Ishvalan survivor. In a sense, his revenge is justified." And Amelia had to agree with that statement, just a little.

"No way." Edward's voice caught everyone's attention, seeing the young man scowling at the floor as he had been through most of the story, "There's no justification for taking revenge on people who had nothing to do with it. He's just dressing his ugly lust for vengeance in the mantle of his god and calling himself an agent of justice."

"Still, the fact is he's coming at us with full force," Mustang said, "We can't let ourselves be killed for his cause." He looked out over his soldiers, "Next time, there will be no more talk, got it?"

"Yes, sir." Said all the soldiers but Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, who wasn't Mustang's subordinate like everyone else. He didn't intend to fight Scar, either. Not when he had a wife and child to go back to.

Hughes looked over at the pair of brothers, "Well, Ed? Alphonse? What are you two going to do now?" He asked. "What's the plan?"

"We're going to keep moving," Edward said with a determination that Amelia hadn't heard in his voice earlier, "We can't just sit around, not as long as we're still alive."

"Brother…!" Alphonse's voice sounded happy and relieved to hear those words, and Edward smiled at him, putting his hand on the tarp-covered shoulder.

"Before we make any headway on getting your body back, we have to get my arm back to normal," He said, "After all, I'm the only one who knows how to bond your soul to the armor."

"Uh-huh." Alphonse agreed, and though he couldn't make an expression, Amelia could swear he was smiling.

"We've got no choice," Edward sighed out, "It's been a long time, but we need to pay a visit to our mechanic." He moved his hand up to the port where his automail arm used to be, "I'm not going to be able to perform alchemy without another arm."

"Well, that's an interesting predicament, isn't it?" Breda said with a small grin, "If the Great Edward Elric can't perform his own special brand of alchemy…" Havoc grinned as he caught onto his friend's joke.

"Then he's just a teen with a grumpy-ass attitude." Edward glared at the man who kept smiling, knowing he couldn't really do anything about his words.

"So, where's your mechanic located?" Hughes asked.

"Resembool, we'll take a train out," Edward said.

"Resembool, that's quite some ways away…" Hughes sighed, "And with Scar around, you'll need some protection. I'd volunteer but with Scar in East City, this investigation is officially out of my jurisdiction, so I have to go back to Central." Amelia noticed how the major straightened up a little at the mention of protection, and she grimaced a bit.

"And Scar's investigation is officially in my jurisdiction, so I can't leave until we've found something substantial," Roy said as his excuse not to go as protection.

"And I need to make sure the colonel doesn't slack on his paperwork." Hawkeye said, earning an irritated look from her superior, but no denial of what she said. Amelia could almost see the major's muscles twitching under his uniform…

"You could send me, but I don't know how much help I would be against a fanatical Ishvalan serial killer." Havoc said as he crossed his arms, with Falman, Breda, and Feury all raising their hands as they voiced their agreement with that statement. Amelia could almost swear that her teacher had an unusual sparkling glow around him as he straightened up.

"Then that settles it." Armstrong said before stripped off his jacket to pose and show his own strength, with Amelia yelping as his jacket landed on top of her on the couch, "Send me! I'll protect the boys on their journey for repairs!" He declared.

"Excuse you!" Amelia's voice cut through as she threw his jacket back at him, "Stop doing that, we don't want to see your muscles right now!"

"Actually," Hughes spoke up, "We _could_  send Armstrong, but that would interfere with his duties as your alchemy teacher…"

"Then Amelia can come with me!" Armstrong said as he reached over to pull her up from her couch, placing her in front of him as he posed again behind her, and she couldn't look back because she knew what he was doing and she didn't want to see him being like that. "I can certainly multi-task my duties while travelling! The ability to care for multiple children at once is a parenting skill that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!"

"I'm not a child!"

"Who are you calling a kid?!"

Amelia and Edward spoke at the same time as they were called children, both glaring up at the Major. He was a little surprised at how quickly they had gotten angry at the titles, but then he was composed in an instant. "Children should listen to their elders, this is for your own good."

"We don't need an escort!" Edward snapped.

"So, what are you going to do if Scar shows up again?" Hughes asked, and Edward faltered, "You're not exactly in the condition to fight." He glanced at his missing arm and sighed, relenting.

"Fine."

"And, hey, you can forget bringing me on this trip." Amelia said, "I could stand to take the break from alchemy." After seeing all the horrors of chimeras, she wasn't eager to learn, "I'd rather stay at the Armstrong estate."

Roy chuckled, "Right, because they would just leave you alone in an estate filled with civilians who have no formal military training." She looked back at the colonel with an indignant glare.

"Why not? I've been there long enough that they don't mind."

"It's not a matter of whether or not they mind," Hughes began, getting her attention. "You need to remember your place, you're not a free citizen of Amestris, you have to be under constant supervision as a convicted felon and as a student of Armstrong's alchemy."

"Well, what if I decide I don't want to learn alchemy? What if I just quit?" She snapped.

Hughes shrugged, "Then the deal you made with the Fuhrer is gone, and you go back to prison." Amelia's confidence was shaken at the news and even more by his nonchalant attitude in his answer. It was jarring to remember she wasn't free in this country, not under these circumstances. "Is that what you want?" He asked her, genuinely curious if she wanted to stop learning alchemy, after her reaction to chimeras he wouldn't be surprised if the idea left a bad taste in her mouth.

"No…" She turned away and sighed, "Fine, I'll go on the stupid trip."

"Then it's settled!" Armstrong said firmly, "We'll take the first train out of Resembool."

* * *

The next train wouldn't come until tomorrow morning, so Amelia ended up spending the night in the same inn as Major Armstrong. The room they had was a two-bed room, but the beds were in the same spot so that the Major could keep an eye on her. She ended up changing into some nightclothes and went to bed, and spent most the night trying to fall asleep despite the major's bear-like snores. She ended up spending that time awake both hating the major for his noise, but also hating her surroundings in this country. She hated that she couldn't go out on her own without supervision, and the more she thought about it, the more she hated being without her freedom in this country. Technically, yes, she was a prisoner, but she still wanted to be able to have some say here and there. Though she had to admit, she felt a lot like a dog with a muzzle and an extremely short leash. She felt like fighting for anything was going to end up with her choking on her collar until she couldn't go on.

When the major finally turned over in bed and stopped snoring, she managed to get some sleep, though her dreams were filled with images of dogs, either snapping at her feet, or someone grabbing her by her muzzle and dragging her along to a table to be made into a chimera. Once the nightmare was over and she did manage to get some sleep, it was suddenly time to wake up or they would miss their train.

She got dressed and met Edward at his hotel, where they worked on getting Al in some mobile transportation since he couldn't walk. They had put him in a crate the night before when they left to go to the hotel and Edward had carried him (with some help from the others until he could get to a car). Now the major carried him on his shoulder with the rest of the luggage as they made their way through the train station. She was walking behind the major, and so was Edward. The major separated from them to put Al somewhere safe on board the train since he wouldn't be able to join them in the passenger compartment in a wooden crate, so he left Edward to help Amelia board the train.

She got on and sat across from the alchemist, looking his outfit up and down once she had a good look at him. She remembered seeing that red coat the first time they met. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but now that she saw his outfit up close - red trench coat, leather pants, leather boots, and a smaller leather jacket underneath the red coat - she thought it was pretty tacky, even a little bit of an eyesore to look at.

"So, you sleep well?" Edward asked, trying to make some small talk with her until the major got back.

"The major snores." She said curtly, "Didn't sleep so great."

Ed was quiet before he grimaced, "I can see him snoring."

"You should hear it," She said, "He sounds like a damn bear." Edward nodded, still with that grimace as he looked out the train window, they still weren't moving, and probably wouldn't for a while. Amelia noticed it was a steam engine train, she didn't know how long it would be until they got to this place they were supposed to go. "Do you know how long it'll take us to get to your town?" She asked, figuring she may as well make an effort for some small talk, just to occupy the space until her teacher came back.

"It'll be a couple of days traveling, we should be there around 1:00 or 2:00 tomorrow." She grimaced at the sound of being on a train with these guys for so many hours since the train was set to depart around 10:30.

"A whole day…" She muttered, knowing that the major was going to push some alchemy lessons in her face during that time, "How fast can this train go?"

Edward shrugged, not knowing the answer, "I think about 70 or 75 miles per hour." He said.

"You think if I jumped off this train at that speed, it would kill me?" She asked with a dry tone, and Edward gave her an odd look, wondering if they were still making small talk or if something weird was going on with her.

At that time, however, the major came back and took a seat beside Edward, "There we are, all the luggage is packed away, and Alphonse is safe and sound." He said.

"Are you sure?" Edward asked, "You're absolutely positive he's on the train?" Armstrong nodded with certainty.

There was a knock and the two teens looked over to see Hughes at the train window, "Hey," He greeted them through the glass and Edward opened up one part of the window so they could talk, "The folks down at Easter Command Center were a little too busy to make it down here today, so I came down to see you off instead."

"Great, and thanks for getting us an escort, too," Edward said sarcastically, looking over at the major as he took his set at the other end of the bench where Edward was.

"The major's here to help," Hughes said, and he shrugged, "Just try to grin and bear it."

"Children can be so stubborn," Armstrong said, and Amelia laughed as Edward was called a kid again.

"Shut up! I'm no child!" He snapped at the major, "Anyway, you're sure Al made it on board?"

"Of course," Armstrong said, "I made sure he was put somewhere he might be comfortable."

"Where?" Edward asked firmly.

"There was a car full of sheep that's headed to Resembool, they all seemed perfectly friendly, so I put him among them." Amelia couldn't help cackling at the idea of that suit of armor stuck in the middle of a crowd of sheep. "I thought he might get lonely without a little company."

"My brother isn't some kind of farm animal!" Edward snapped, only to be interrupted by a ringing bell that signaled it was time for the train to head off, hearing the train rumble as the engine got ready, the horn sounding off.

"Well, it's time." The Lieutenant Colonel stepped back from the train, giving a salute as it slowly started to make its way out, "Okay, you boys have a safe trip. Stop in and give me a shout the next time you make it to Central." Edward saluted with his left hand in return, as did the major. "And I'll see you when you return, Miss Seymour."

"Hoo-ray." She said dryly, giving him a two-fingered salute before relaxing back on the train bench, watching as he slowly went farther and farther away as the train moved out of the station and onto the tracks, headed to their destination in Resembool.

Once they were out a bit more and the station was out of sight, the major pulled out an alchemy textbook, "Now, since we'll be traveling for a few days-"

"No." Amelia cut him off with a glare, crossing her arms, "It's not happening." She turned away from him, and the major sighed a little, having expected resistance still after what happened with the Tucker estate.

"Amelia, you have already been told what will happen if you don't continue with your alchemy training." Edward perked up a little as he listened to the major trying to convince her. "If you don't continue, I'll have no choice but to have you arrested for trespassing on military property."

"Why the hell should I learn something like that anyway?" She snapped at him, "It's a stupid science!"

"It's not stupid," Edward came to the defense of alchemy quickly enough, "You're the one that's stupid if you don't want to learn it."

Amelia frowned as he called her stupid, "I don't want to learn this weird science that decides it's okay to fuck with the natural order of things!"

"What are you talking about?" Edward looked over as the major sighed a bit.

"She's acting this way because of the chimeras she saw at the Tucker estate, she apparently didn't like that particular part of bio-alchemy." He explained to the younger state alchemist.

"Because it's fucked up!" Amelia said, raising her voice a little, "I mean, you're basically cutting a puppy and a kitten in half and sewing them together in the hopes of making the perfect pet! It's fucked up and I don't want to learn a science that thinks that's justified!"

"I can't say I blame you." Edward said, getting Amelia to turn to him in surprise, "Chimeras are seen as abominations in a lot of cases, and I know there are plenty of people who prefer to ignore the fact that they exist because it's easy to think it's cruel to use animals in that way."

" _Thank you!_  Finally, someone's in agreement with me on this!" Amelia said, and she glared back up at her teacher, "You can't make me learn this stuff, and I hate that you're actually forcing me to learn it with the threat of jail."

"Amelia, try to see reason," Armstrong said pleadingly, "I am only doing my duty in teaching you, and it was you who agreed to do this."

"Well, now I'm regretting it," Amelia said, shifting in her seat and looking out the window with a scowl.

Armstrong put his hands in his lap, trying to think of something he could, "I would rather not see you put back in jail if I can help it, and I can't force you to learn something," He conceded, "But as your teacher, I can tailor your lessons and change the curriculum." Amelia looked back at him suspiciously.

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning that if you don't wish to learn bio-alchemy, I will remove it from your lessons and we can focus on other branches of the science." He offered, "This way, you are still keeping your agreement in place."

Amelia shifted a bit in her seat before she sighed, "Alright, I guess." Armstrong held out an alchemy textbook for her and she took it, noticing it was a different copy from the one she lost - she basically said she lost it in the heated battle with Scar, and he accepted that as her excuse - and opened it up. "So, where are we starting?"

"We're going to be speaking of the importance of the matrix within the transmutation circle today," Armstrong said, beginning his lecture on alchemy. It went well, with Amelia taking notes here and there, and Edward eventually got up to try and sneak his way over to the cargo car to talk to Al, but he never managed to find a way in, so he ended up coming back and listening as the major explained some things about alchemy that he already knew.

He would mostly just stare out the window on the other side of the car, or try to think about how he could talk to Alphonse through the cargo car, but every now and then he would look back over at Amelia. He watched how attentive she was, although reluctant to learn at the start, she still concentrated. Every few minutes, she would ask a question, or ask the major to clarify something. He watched her scribble down her notes on top of the textbook, which no one seemed to mind. He was guilty of scribbling in textbooks while taking notes, too. It was interesting to see how different she was from when they first met. She had been exceptionally rude to him (he was still going to make her pay for that short joke she made, damn it!) but since then she had not only stepped in to try to save his life, but now she was an attentive student.

He smirked a little to himself, thinking it kind of funny that her brain was still eager for knowledge despite all of her protests against it an hour ago. He watched her at work with Armstrong, the two of them going back and forth for almost two hours before Amelia started to get quieter, her questions less frequent. She started to stare at the textbook, not focusing on it, and the major decided she needed a break from studying and lecturing.

"There will be plenty more opportunities to learn on our trip," Armstrong assured her, only to be met with a shrug from Amelia as she closed the book.

"Whatever, I could do with a break." she moved over on the bench, taking advantage of the fact that she had it all to herself and lying back on it, reaching into her pocket for her phone and the headphones she had made sure to bring with her. Edward watched curiously as she stuck the earbuds in and just lay back, closing her eyes as she held the little box thing to her chest.

"Major, what is that?" He asked.

"Oh, Amelia calls it a phone, though I don't know why." Armstrong said, "She normally uses it more like a phonograph for herself, though. I understand it has music in there somehow." He looked over at Edward, "It's an incredibly unique piece of technology from her home, I've never seen anything like it. Its main components are simply some copper wiring and silicon."

"You're kidding." Edward was amazed that something like that could function, though he didn't understand why. His curious mind looked over at the device, leaning over to get a closer look at it. From here, it just looked like a mess of plastic, he might have even mistaken it for a weird toy, but knowing what it could do intrigued him. "Hey," He tried to get her attention, though her eyes stayed closed. "Hey," he spoke a little louder, but nothing.

"She can't hear you." Armstrong said, "Once those little things are in her ears, she can't hear anything." Edward looked over at her, waving his hand over her closed eyes and seeing no reaction. Maybe she was falling asleep? He wanted to get a closer look at that little device, and he reached out for the cord that was stuck to the bottom of it, giving it a little tug and freezing when he saw it fall off the device.

Amelia immediately opened her eyes and sat up, bringing her hand down on top of Edward's as she held her phone to her chest.

"Ow!" Edward pulled his hand back, glaring at her, "That was a little unnecessary."

"It was not, why are you messing with my phone?" She asked as she put the cord back where it was, and Edward was glad he hadn't broken it somehow.

"How is that thing a phone? It's not connected to anything except your ears." He didn't really understand how it worked with the phones he saw, and his only answer was a glare before Amelia touched a couple of things on the shining screen of it and going back to the position she had before, closing her eyes. Ed frowned at her rude refusal to answer him and decided if she was going to be stubborn, he wasn't going to bother asking. He sat back and decided to leave her be as the sun started to set beyond the horizon of the mountains as the train kept on its path.

Soon enough, Edward had grown bored and leaned on the edge of the seat to nap for a while. And Amelia took her earbuds out when she got tired of listening to music and sat up. She looked over at the napping Edward and looking up at her teacher, who seemed to be reading a book. He looked up when he noticed her eyes on him and smiled, "Ready for more lessons?"

She shrugged, "I guess so." She didn't really have anything else to do on the train ride. So, her teacher closed his book and they got into the lectures once again, which lasted for a while before Armstrong realized his student was just as tired as before, so he decided to put a stop to it for a while and offer her something else to do. Amelia stared down at the little book he offered with a quirked brow, "Is this my next textbook or something?" she asked as she opened it, and read the title inside with a wrinkled nose. " _The Heart of the Golden Rose_?" She looked back up at her teacher, who only beamed at her, "What is this?"

"It's a novel, I thought I might pack it for you for the trip." He said, "It's a personal favorite of my sister's, and I've read it as well. It's quite the enthralling read."

"Is this a romance novel? Because I don't really do romance novels." She said, and she watched as her teacher pulled out another book, "What about that one you're reading? What's that?"

"Oh, this?" He pointed to his book, "This is the fourth book in the Golden Rose saga, I don't think it's best for you to read it unless you read the other three."

Amelia's jaw dropped, "This thing has a saga? And it's four books long?" She knew romance books brought in big bucks, but still!

"I assure you, it's much more than a simple romance book." He said, "But it's entirely up to you if you want to read it, I'm afraid I don't have much else to offer you in terms of entertainment until we arrive." She let out a displeased hum, looking at the novel in her hands.

Well, she might as well just make jokes about it in her head while she reads, no harm in trying to make it fun.

* * *

Night had come and passed and Amelia, Edward, and Major Armstrong were waiting while the train refueled at a station near a small town out in the country. It was a small grouping of brick houses all lumped together at the foot of a hill, but it was still full of life. There were people boarding and getting off the train at this station, seeing family, friends, or just to stretch their legs a little.

Amelia would have noticed it if she had looked up from the novel she was reading. Her nose was inside the book, reading over every word as she was half-way through it, reading the tale of Rose and how she tried to win over her beloved Damien who served as a knight in a fantasy kingdom. She had been reading it through most of the night until she was too tired to keep her eyes open. And once she was awake, she started reading this book that she thought she would have hated, but somewhere after chapter three the dry humor about the impossibly handsome Damien and the unbelievably kind Rose didn't seem appropriate and she found herself captivated by the enchanting story of Damien going off to war with Rose disguising herself as a boy to be his page.

She had just gotten to the part where Rose had confessed that she was a woman who followed him into battle, and she gasped as she read Damien dismissing her with a cruel wave. The noise caught the attention of both of the men across from her, Edward giving her an odd look as he saw the offended expression on her face, and Armstrong smiled.

"Where are you in the book?" He asked, feeling a little proud in that he had gotten her to like it.

She looked up at him, "I just got to where she tells Damien the truth about who she is, and he just dismisses her! I mean, what the hell?" Armstrong nodded along in agreement as she vented her frustration towards the character, "After all that she's done for him? All of a sudden, the fact that she's a woman makes her unable to perform her duties as a page? She healed this loser back from the brink of death and has sworn her life to him, and he when he finds out she's a girl he just says "Go home"?! What an asshole! I was kind of rooting for them, but now I hope he gets what's coming to him." She grumbled as she opened up the book again.

"Why are you getting so worked up?" Edward asked, "They're not real." Amelia turned to him with a glare and brought her foot up to kick his shin, only to hear a metal clang meet her shoe, "Hey!"

"You have a fake leg, too?" She frowned at her inability to get him to feel a little pain. She kicked the other one and smiled when her boot met flesh underneath the leather pants.

"Hey, ow!" Edward glared at her as he reached down to hold the spot she had kicked, "What was that for?"

"These characters may not be real, but that doesn't mean my feelings about the situation doesn't matter." Amelia said, "So don't make it sound like it doesn't matter."

"What? But it's all fake, why does it matter when none of it is real?" His answer was another kick to his flesh leg, "Ow! You better cut that out!"

"Or what?" In their bickering, the two teenagers didn't realize that Armstrong was staring at a man walking by the train station through the window.

"Or I'm gonna make you sorry for doing it!" Edward snapped back.

"I'm not afraid of you! Bring it!" She swung her legs out in front of him with a smile, "I got two  _real_  legs that are ready to kick your tiny ass." That struck a nerve and Edward could feel his blood boiling.

"Who are you calling small, you-?!" Ed was cut off as Armstrong suddenly put his head through the opening in the window to call out to the man passing by, pushing Ed up against the window as well.

"Doctor Marcoh!" He called out to the man, "Doctor Marcoh, that is you, isn't it?" The man turned around to see the Major's face sticking out of the window, "It's me! Alex Louis Armstrong, from Central!" The man's expression quickly changed to one of horror, and he took off running from the station.

"Friend of yours?" Edward asked, a little curious about the man as he ran off with his briefcase.

"He's from Central, a talented state alchemist," Armstrong said, "He was researching into possible medical applications of alchemy. But after the Ishvalan Civil War, he went missing. Just disappeared…" He still watched the man's back as he ran away, turning a corner and getting out of sight. Edward, hearing the news this man had experience in using alchemy for medical uses, suddenly forgot his anger with Amelia and moved out from underneath the major to head off the car.

"Let's go, Major." He said.

"What for? This is the last stop until Resembool." Amelia was eager to get the trip over with and didn't want to make an unnecessary stop.

"Because a guy like this doctor might know some useful things about bio-alchemy." He gripped at the empty spot where his arm was gone, and Amelia wondered if Edward planned on getting his body back to normal through alchemy. She wasn't really sure, but since Edward was the reason they were travelling, they did what he suggested. And Armstrong seemed pleased at the idea of seeing someone from the old days. After getting Alphonse and getting off the train, they made their way into town, with Armstrong taking a moment to scribble something in a notebook as Amelia held it steady for him since he only had one hand while he carried Alphonse on his shoulder.

"There we are, thank you." He said as he tucked away his pen and took the sketchbook from her. Amelia stole a peek to see it was actually a very well-drawn portrait of the man they had seen at the train station from the neck up. It looked just like him.

One of the villagers walked their way, and Armstrong approached him, showing the picture, "Excuse me, but do you know this person, by any chance?" He asked the man, who took a moment to look at the picture.

"Wow, Major. You can really draw." Edward said, a little impressed at the man's skills, but also a little confused as to why he had them to begin with.

As if answering his silent question, Armstrong proudly said, "The art of portraiture has been passed down through the Armstrong family for generations."

"That man looks like Dr. Mauro to me." The villager said.

"Mauro?" Armstrong repeated in confusion.

"All of our town's doctors were drafted to help on the battlefields during the Civil War. And then Doctor Mauro came here. He's really been a life saver." The man said.

Another younger man came up to him, "He's a great doctor, he never turns down a patient and he never gives up on them, either. We're really lucky to have him here." The two had nothing but praise for their town's doctor, "No sooner do you see a flash of light, and then you're cured. It's really something."

The three of them frowned a bit at the mention of a flash of light. Could it be that Doctor Marcoh was using alchemy to cure these people?

They showed the portrait around town, and everyone recognized him as Doctor Mauro, with similar stories they heard from the first villagers, talking about how he was a great doctor and had really helped their town. How he wouldn't turn down anyone and seemed to be able to almost instantly cure any ailment you had after a flash of light.

It became pretty apparent that Marcoh was using some form of alchemy to cure these people, but Amelia was skeptical. The idea of using alchemy to cure the common cold wasn't really something she had figured could be done, but could someone use alchemy on a cellular level? Change a virus into a blood cell? She wasn't even sure people in Amestris knew about the cellular level of bodies and science, or what materials were used to make cells period.  _She_  wasn't even sure about it herself. Theoretically, she knew it wasn't impossible to change a cell into something else organic, but it was still kind of strange to hear.

Eventually, someone pointed them in the direction of Dr. Mauro's home and office where people would go to see him, and they made their way up the stairs to the front door. Edward, being eager to know about the doctor's skills in bio-alchemy, was the first one up, with Amelia behind him, and Armstrong behind her, still carrying Alphonse's crate on his shoulders.

"This should be it." Edward said before he knocked on the door, only to get no response, "Um, hello-!" He stopped when a gun was pointed in his face and he jumped back to avoid the bullet that was shot out, with Amelia and Armstrong freezing up at the sight of Marcoh with a revolver in his hand.

"Alright, tell me what you three are doing here?!" Marcoh demanded, looking up at Armstrong as he carefully stepped in front of Amelia, "Have you come to take me back?!"

"Please, Doctor," Armstrong held up his free hand in a non-threatening manner, "Calm down."

Marcoh's hands shook as he held the gun, "I don't ever want to go back. Anything but that!"

"That's not it, please listen…" Armstrong still tried to reason with him.

"So, you're here to silence me, then?!" Marcoh glared at Armstrong, who only shook his head.

"No, nothing like that…!"

"I won't be tricked by you!" Marcoh still held the gun on Armstrong, who was starting to become fed up with Marcoh's hysterical behavior.

He took in a deep breath before he launched Alphonse's crate to him, and Marcoh let out a surprised yelp before he toppled back with Alphonse on top of him, "I'LL ASK YOU ONE MORE TIME, PLEASE CALM DOWN!"

"Alphonse!" Edward cried out for his brother, hurrying to get the crate straightened up and off of Doctor Marcoh, with Armstrong kicking away the handgun before the man could reach it. "What the hell, Major?!" Though when Armstrong handed the gun back to Marcoh, everyone was quiet as they waited for him to react.

"We're not here to silence you or take you back," Armstrong said, and Marcoh calmed down as he took the gun back and stood up.

"I'm sorry…" he said, turning around to put his gun away on a shelf, "It's just been so long since I've seen anyone from Central. I was hoping no one had any reason to come out this way." He looked up at the major, "I haven't seen you since you were dismissed."

The major nodded, "Yes, it was a difficult time for all of us." He agreed solemnly, and Marcoh sighed before inviting everyone in, offering them seats at his table.

"I'm afraid I don't have any tea, I get guests often, so I run out very quickly." Marcoh apologized as he took a seat.

"That's perfectly fine, we don't really have the time for it," Armstrong said as Amelia and Edward sat down at the table, with Alphonse's crate right near his brother's seat.

Marcoh sighed once more as he sat down, looking down at his hands as they rested on the table. "I've been terrified of the thought that someone from Central would find out who I was and drag me back there. I just couldn't go…"

"So, you changed your name and decided to live in hiding way out here in the countryside." Armstrong gathered, and Marcoh nodded briefly. "If the rumors I've heard can be believed, when you disappeared you took top-secret materials with you."

"...I couldn't handle it anymore," Marcoh said, "Order or no order, to have to dirty my hands researching that _thing_  was too much…" He said the word with such disdain and disgust.

"What 'thing' is that?" Edward asked.

"...It took so many lives," Marcoh said, ignoring Edward's question, "During the civil war, so many innocents died because of it." He hunched forward slightly, as if he was in pain, "I could spend my whole life trying and still never atone for the things I've done. But I had to do something, so I came here to be a doctor and save lives instead of taking them." There was a silence following his statement, and Amelia looked at the man pitifully. He had been so torn up over what the war had done to him, he clearly felt a huge amount of guilt for whatever it was that he was looking into.

"Doctor," Armstrong's voice came gently through the silence, "What exactly was it you were ordered to do research on? What thing?"

Marcoh lifted his head slightly, though he still stared down at the table, glaring at his hands, "The philosopher's stone."

Edward's breath hitched and he straightened up, Alphonse put his attention on him, and Amelia looked at the doctor with wide eyes. She remembered reading in her textbook about it, that the philosopher's stone was meant to be a massive alchemic amplifier, made to get rid of the idea of equivalent exchange entirely. With a philosopher's stone, an alchemist could easily become a master in any subject of alchemy despite a lack of knowledge because the stone would make up for any loss. It was incredibly powerful, and it was the most coveted item among alchemists, though it bordered on legend on how hard it was to find it, or even create it.

"The top-secret materials I took were my research documents." Marcoh continued, "And the stone itself."

"You mean you still have it?! It's here?" Edward asked, standing up from his seat at the news. Marcoh looked up at Edward, putting his full attention on him for a moment before he reached into his coat, pulling out a small bottle with a red liquid inside, and Edward's brow furrowed in confusion, "How can that be the stone? It's a liquid." Marcoh didn't answer as he opened the bottle, and began to pour out the contents onto the table. They gasped at the sight, thinking that Marcoh was trying to get rid of it, only to watch the liquid come together to form a droplet on the table, not moving or sinking into the wood.

"'The sage's stone,' 'the grand elixir,' 'the celestial stone,' 'the red tincture,' 'the fifth element,'" Marcoh listed off different names for the philosopher's stone as the others observed, Ed reached out and poked at it with his gloved hand, watching how the red liquid shifted back from the touch in a way that reminded Amelia almost of jello. "Just as the philosopher's stone is called by many names, so it can take on many forms. It is not necessarily a stone." The doctor reached forward for the stone and Edward pulled his hand away as he watched Doctor Marcoh put the stone back inside the bottle, "This is an incomplete product, however. There's no way to know when it will reach its limit and become unusable."

Edward hadn't lost hope, though, "Finished or not, it demonstrated plenty of power during the Ishvalan Civil War, right?" Marcoh looked up at Edward with a horrified expression at the mention of it, "It's just like the stone that false priest had in Liore. It was incomplete, but it still amplified his powers considerably." Edward grinned at the excitement of just how close he was to his goal, "If imitation stones this powerful can be produced, who's to say a complete product can't be created?" He looked up at Doctor Marcoh, a fiery determination in his gaze, "Please, Doctor Marcoh, I need access to your research materials."

Marcoh stared at Edward in silence for a moment before turning the Armstrong, "Major, who exactly is this boy?" He asked.

"This boy is a state alchemist, Doctor," Armstrong answered him, and Marcoh's eyes widened even more.

"What? But he's only a child." He turned to Amelia, "And you? Are you a state alchemist as well?"

She shrugged in response, "In training."

Marcoh sighed and reached to pinch at the space between his brows, "After the war, there were many state alchemists who turned in their certifications because they refused to serve as human weapons anymore. And now a child…!"

"You think I don't know what I've signed up for?" Edward growled out, and Marcoh's head lifted to look up at him, "I know what I'm doing, but I don't have any choice." Edward gripped at the space where his arm should have been, "If this is a mistake, then it's a mistake I have to make, there's no other way!"

Marcoh looked at Edward, and he let out a small breath, "Why are you seeking the stone? What possible reason could you have to make such a terrible mistake?" He asked.

Edward looked back at Alphonse, who turned his head to meet his brother's gaze, his helmet nodding briefly before Edward looked back at Marcoh, glancing at Armstrong and Amelia, all of them patiently awaiting his answer, "Because it's the only way we can get our bodies back to normal after what we did."

"And just what did you do?" Marcoh asked, pressing him further.

Edward looked down, feeling a little ashamed of saying it out loud, "When Alphonse and I were younger, we committed human transmutation in an attempt to bring our mother back to life." Amelia's eyes widened at his words, and Edward squeezed at the empty sleeve of his coat a little tighter, "I ended up losing my leg, and Al lost his entire body. I sacrificed my arm in order to make sure I could get his soul back, and I bound it to that suit of armor." He gestured to him, and Marcoh's gaze followed him, getting up from his seat to get a closer look at Alphonse.

Amelia knew the words 'human transmutation' because they were listed in the first chapter of her alchemy textbook. It was an expressly forbidden practice in alchemy, considered a taboo worthy of damnation to the deepest depths of hell. Not only was it incredibly risky, but very few people had managed to do it successfully, if they had managed to live through it. It never resulted in a successful human being made. Amelia looked at Edward's body with new eyes when she heard this, knowing now that his arm and leg were the results of something terrible that he had done, and poor Alphonse… She looked back in her chair as Marcoh looked into the helmet, seeing the small glow there that was Alphonse's soul inside of it. Alphonse lost his entire body, and was now nothing more than a suit of armor. It explained why they were the way they were, but at the same time she couldn't fathom why they would want to bring their mother back to life. Then, she mentally chided herself that her mother wasn't really the best example of mothers period, and perhaps the boys just tried in a misguided attempt at happiness without really thinking. Edward had mentioned that they were younger when they attempted it, and he wasn't very old now, not much older than her. Still, she would agree with the idea that the dead should stay dead no matter what.

"I see, so you've committed the taboo." Marcoh said, still looking over Alphonse's armor, "Amazing… the ability to transmute a specific person's soul like this…" He stood up, "Maybe one as talented as you would be able to produce a complete philosopher's stone."

Edward's face lit up with a hopeful smile, "So-?"

"But I can't show you my research." Marcoh cut him off and Edward's smile quickly fell into a scowl.

"Why not?!"  
"You must not seek after the stone!" Marcoh said, turning away from him.

"Not even if it's to get our bodies back?" Edward asked, glaring at his back.

"Never!" Marcoh said, "This is the devil's research, if you chase the stone, you will go through hell." As he spoke, Edward's scowl only deepened, getting frustrated with the doctor's lack of cooperation when they had come so close to finding what they wanted.

"I've  _already_  been through hell!" He almost shouted it out as he stood up from his chair. It clattered to the floor behind him and Marcoh looked back. He could see the furious look on Edward's face, and then looked to the major and Amelia before sighing.

"Please…" He said quietly, "Please, just leave."

They were silent, and Amelia looked back to her teacher before he stood up, coming around the table to pick up Alphonse's crate again and shoulder it. "Thank you for inviting us in, Doctor Marcoh. It was good to see you again." He said, before he made his way for the door, Amelia trailing behind him, and Edward reluctantly doing the same, but not without still glaring at Marcoh before they closed the door. Once the man was out of sight, Edward's shoulders slumped a little at the thought that he wouldn't be able to retrieve the stone, even though it had been sitting there right in front of him, tempting him with everything that he could ever want. It was a terrible loss for him, to be sure, but he couldn't force the doctor to just hand it over, it wouldn't be fair to Alphonse, despite how easy it would have been. They didn't want to force anyone else to make their bodies for them. They got themselves into the situation they had now, and they were going to be the ones to get themselves out of it.

The walk back to the train station was in silence, with Edward moping over the loss of the stone, and Amelia compiling all this new information in her head. She knew human transmutation existed, it was one of the things explicitly warned in the first chapter in regards to forbidden practices, right after it was the law against turning metals into gold as that was considered counterfeit. Still, the idea of loving a parent so much that you would try to bring them back from the dead… It was an idea she couldn't completely wrap her head around. Her parents weren't the best parents on earth, there was no doubt about that, but she didn't care for them enough to try and bring them back from the dead for some reason or another. She looked over at Edward as he walked, wondering just what kind of person his mother was that his childhood self would have given himself that kind of risk if it meant bringing his mother back.

"Did it work?" She asked him, and Edward looked over at her confusedly.

"Did what work?"

"Human transmutation." Amelia specified, "Did you… make your mother?" She watched a dark expression come over Ed's face and he turned away from her.

"No. We weren't able to make our mother." He said shortly. Amelia wanted to press him for details, but from the way his jaw was clenched, she decided against it. It was clearly a sensitive topic for him, and she wasn't surprised. After all, if that news got out, he would probably be arrested for creating a person, which was against Amestrian law for alchemists. At the very least, he would be court-martialed and cut off from his resources as an alchemist of the state. She turned back to her front as she kept walking, the rest of the trip was in silence.

Once they got to the train station, they had to wait for the next one to take them to Resembool, taking a seat on the empty benches as they waited for it to pull up.

"Are you sure about this, Ed?" Armstrong asked the younger alchemist, "Even an incomplete philosopher's stone could be useful. You could have taken it from the doctor by force."

"Yeah, I wanted it so badly I could almost taste it." Edward sighed out. "But, still…"

"But still, we don't want it so badly that we would be willing to deprive this town of their only doctor to get it." Alphonse finished for him.

"We gained plenty just by finding out the philosopher's stone can be made." Edward said, smiling a bit as he looked up at the countryside's clear sky. "Now, we'll just have to look for some other way to do it." They heard the blaring of the train whistle, and Amelia leaned forward to see it coming down the tracks towards them. They all got up from their seats and Armstrong shouldered Alphonse once more as the train came by, rushing closer as it made to make a stop here. "What about you, Major? How do you feel about not reporting back to Central on Doctor Marcoh's location?" Amelia was a little curious of this, too. Armstrong was so fiercely loyal to his country, but at the same time Marcoh was also a friend who was desperate to never go back to Central.

"I met a simple, small-town doctor today. Can't see any real reason to report that." Armstrong said, and Edward grinned at his answer.

"For such a big guy with hard muscles, you're a real softie," Amelia said with a small laugh.

"Wait!" The group was surprised at the voice, seeing Marcoh running down the station towards them, out of breath as he came to a stop, resting his hands on his knees.

"Doctor Marcoh?" Edward stepped forward, his eyes wide, and feeling the little sparks of hope as he looked at the man, did he have second thoughts about his research?

Marcoh reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, holding it out to Edward, "This is where my materials are." He said, "If you're certain you won't regret looking for the truth in the end, start looking here." Edward took the paper, though when Marcoh wouldn't release it just yet, he looked up at the doctor, "Look closely, maybe you'll find the truth hidden within the truth." He let go of the paper with a small smile, "But, I've said too much already." He turned around, starting to make his way back home with a friendly wave, "I hope the day will come when you're able to restore your bodies." He wished them luck and Edward smiled, bowing forward to thank the man as he walked away, with Armstrong giving him a salute.

The train's brakes squealed as it came to a stop and they got on, with Edward insisting that Alphonse join them in their car instead of being stuck in cargo again. Alphonse thanked his brother for intervening and he was put in the seat across from Edward and Armstrong, with Amelia taking a spot next to the crate. They made sure all their luggage was in place, and soon enough the train started moving forward again, on to Resembool.

"Brother, what does the note say?" Alphonse asked eagerly, wanting to hear about this information that would help him in getting his body back.

"'National Central Library - First branch'." Edward read off.

"I get it, like hiding a tree in a forest." Armstrong said as he looked at the note, realizing why Marcoh hid his notes there, "Finding one book in that giant library will be difficult indeed."

Edward only grinned as he folded the note up again, "Finally, another clue about the stone." He looked up at his brother, "We're one step closer to getting our bodies back, brother."

"Yeah," Alphonse said in agreement.

Amelia sat back in her seat, crossing her arms as she looked out the train window. It was good that those guys had another chance to get back to normal, though she wondered about her own chances. Alchemy was a complicated science, but with something like the philosopher's stone being real and within their reach, she couldn't help but wonder…

Could the philosopher's stone help her get back home?


	11. Repairs

_"Every successful individual_

_knows that his or her achievement_

_depends on a community of persons_

_working together."_

**-Paul Ryan**

* * *

A few more hours of traveling, and they had soon arrived at their station. Amelia looked out over their environment, seeing nothing but simple houses and farms, and plenty of rolling fields. It looked like the town didn't have even so much as a paved road, everything was just dirt roads. She figured driving on cars was hellish on that road, but as she looked around, she wondered if anyone around even had a car. Amelia stepped off the train after Edward, watching her teacher duck down the door and move as carefully as possible so he could carry Alphonse out of the train station. The sun was shining brightly over the grassy landscape, and Amelia felt that she could see a lot of the place here. But one thing that bothered her was how quiet it was, she was used to the sounds of cars, cities, all the noise that came with Central. Here, there was hardly any noise except for some birds and the far-off bleats of sheep.

"We are  _way_  out in the country." She said as she looked around.

"Yeah, Resembool's always been like that," Edward said as he picked up his suitcase and moved it over his shoulder. The Major carried his own things, with Amelia doing the same. "Nice and rural."

Amelia didn't say anything as they walked down the path, looking out over the hills, seeing that each house had quite a distance between properties, each one seemed to have its own little hill. "Is it just farms out here?"

"Mostly," Edward said, "Lots of livestock and gardening, but there are some other people around, too. Some doctors, and if you go far enough west you'll find a little town with a market place in it, but it takes a while to get there if you don't have a car or a horse." Amelia grimaced a little at the news that they still rode horses to get around. "But we also have automail engineers out here, and they kind of work part-time as doctors for just some basic needs."

"Huh," was Amelia's only response.

"It's been a while since we've been back." Alphonse said, "A few years, I think."

"Yeah," Edward agreed, "I think it's been about… three or four years now, hasn't it?"

"You haven't returned to your home town in four years?" Armstrong asked, a little surprised at the news.

"Well, there's not really anything to return to." Edward said, he moved his suitcase off his shoulder, "That's where we're headed," He pointed to a yellow house at the top of a hill about half a mile away, "They're never too far from the train station." Amelia would disagree, but she didn't really like the idea of walking that far.

"So how long do you think it'll take for them to fix up your stuff?" Amelia asked, and Edward shrugged.

"Knowing them… it might be a week or so." He said, and Amelia frowned.

"Seriously? I'm going to be stuck with you for a whole week?" Edward looked back over his shoulder with a scowl of his own.

"Believe me, I'm not happy about it either." Amelia glared at him and he glared back.

The major cleared his throat and the two of them separated as he walked between them, continuing their trek up the hill. "I thought you'd want to get out of here as soon as possible." Amelia said, "What with the library thing you found out."

"I know, that's why I'm going to ask them to finish as quickly as they can," Edward said.

Amelia jumped when she heard a dog barking and watched as one came charging down the road to them. It was a big, black furred dog, and her mind immediately thought of a Doberman. She let out a yelp and hid behind the Major, who stopped and looked back at her when he saw her doing that, and then ahead when the dog caught up to Edward, who only smiled and laughed at the excited mutt that jumped around him, his automail paw clanking against the dirt. "It's good to see you, too, Den!" He put his suitcase down for a second to pet the dog, who happily jumped up to try and lick his face. He played with him a little, and Amelia peeked her head out from behind the major to get a look.

She could see it wasn't the Doberman she thought it was, but she still stayed behind the larger man. "Miss Seymour, are you alright?" Armstrong asked, looking down at her.

"I'm fine." She said curtly.

She stiffened when the dog looked their way and hid behind the major again as Den came up to sniff him, and around to see Amelia. She started to slowly move back from him, going around the major, only for Den to curiously follow.

"No… No." She said, trying to put some space between her and the dog, "Shoo! Go away! Shoo!" She tried to wave it off, keeping her suitcase up in front of her like a barrier between her and the dog. "No, bad dog. Shoo!"

"What's with you?" Edward asked, "Den's a good dog, he won't bite or anything."

"Oh, sure, that's what you say  _now_." Amelia grumbled, and she let out a yelp when Den barked at her and she tried to hide behind the major again. Den, thinking she was playing a game, started to chase after her, " _Jesus Christ!_ " She ran over the waist-high stone wall on the side of the road, and Den followed her, though he wasn't big enough to jump over the wall like she had, and she still hid behind her suitcase.

Edward couldn't help laughing, "Are you scared of dogs?"

"Shut up!" Amelia growled at Edward as he only started laughing harder, her cheeks burning a bright shade of red. "It's not funny! You know how vicious dogs can be?!"

Edward only laughed harder. "You're afraid of dogs!"

"I said,  _shut up!_ " Amelia snapped, still keeping behind her suitcase on the wall as Den jumped up to try and lick at her face, "No! Go away! Bad dog!" She dashed forward on the grassy field to avoid him, shoving her suitcase at him to try and get him to go back, and he did get down, though he still looked up at her eagerly, tail wagging as he stared at her, thinking he had found a new playmate. Edward couldn't help laughing at the sight of her afraid of a dog like Den, who he knew was nothing but sweet. Amelia didn't say anything as she looked down at the dog, clearly not happy that she had to stay on that side of the wall as she kept walking, her guard constantly up, her cheeks still bright red in shame as Edward kept laughing.

"Okay, Den. Come here, boy." Edward said, calling the dog as he calmed down, and he happily came over to Edward's side. Amelia still stayed on the other side of the wall, "It's not really safe for you to be over there, you know. That's where the Jensen's keep their bull."

"Bull?" She looked behind her, and she could see a sleeping cow with rather massive horns about two hundred feet away, and she carefully climbed back over the wall, making sure not to get the attention of either the bull or of Den as she walked behind the Major, still keeping her eyes on Den and her suitcase up as a shield.

As they got closer to the house, Amelia noticed a tiny older woman making her way out of the house with a pipe in her mouth. She smiled at the sight of the group coming forward and turned back to the house to shout at the open window on the second floor, "Winry?" When she didn't get a response, she called again, "Winry! Our best customer's here!"

"Yo, Granny!" Edward greeted the older woman as she made her way down the stairs of her front porch.

"We're home!" Alphonse said cheerily as they came up to the edge of the property line.

"Oh, dear, what have you done now?" The woman asked exasperatedly as she saw Alphonse in the crate and Edward missing an arm.

"A lot has happened," Edward said with a chuckle, "Can you fix us up?"

"And who's this you've brought with you?" She asked, looking up at the major and Amelia as they walked.

Armstrong put down the crate that carried Alphonse, and Den went up to it, happily greeting the armor he recognized with a few licks over the metal face. The major reached for the older woman's hand to shake it, "This is Major Alex Louis Armstrong," Edward introduced him, "And this is his student Amelia Seymour."

"I'm Pinako Rockbell." The woman introduced herself, pulling away from Armstrong to shake Amelia's hand, which she did, though she kept a wary glance on Den. Pinako noticed and chuckled, "Oh, don't worry about him. Den's a good dog, he won't hurt you." Amelia only mumbled out a response that no one really understood, and Pinako chose to leave it alone. She stepped back a bit as she looked at Edward, "I know I haven't seen you for a while, Ed, but you've gone and grown smaller."

It was all Edward could do to bite back his tongue as he glared down at the older woman, "Granny, you've got it wrong, you're supposed to say 'How big you've grown lately, Ed!'" He said, forcing a smile on his face though it hardly did anything to hold back his anger.

With a straight face, the woman replied, "But why would I say something so clearly untrue?"

"I'M STILL TALLER THAN YOU, YOU MINI-HAG!" Edward snapped at her. He was going to continue, when a wrench came flying out of nowhere and got him in the shoulder, forcing him down onto the ground.

"Jesus!" Amelia jumped back a little as she looked down at Edward.

"Edward, I thought I told you to call first when you're heading back here for maintenance!" A voice called to him, and Amelia looked up to see a girl on the second floor of the house, who must have thrown the wrench.

"Winry! Are you trying to kill me?!" Edward shouted back at her.

Winry only laughed in response at first, and then she beamed at them, "Welcome back!"

"Yeah…" Edward grumbled, straightening up a little from where he sat. Amelia looked over at Pinako, who only took a long drag from her pipe as if this was all normal. She was a little surprised at how all of this was considered 'normal' but she supposed she wasn't from this family, so she wouldn't really know.

"Let's get you inside and get a look at you," Pinako said, and Armstrong went to pick up Alphonse again as Edward walked in with Pinako, Amelia following after them in the hopes of putting some distance between her and Den.

Of course, Den followed everyone inside and Amelia went to take a seat on a couch, still keeping her suitcase up to make sure Den didn't get too close as the dog came inside, but went straight to the kitchen after Pinako, who came back with a tray of tea.

Winry came bounding down the stairs to see the two boys, still smiling brightly, "I hope you've been keeping the arm I gave you in good condition." She looked down at the empty sleeve on his coat, "Where is it, anyway?"

"Well, that's kind of why we're here." Edward went to his suitcase, opening it up and handing Winry a white sack, "Here you go." Winry took it and went over to the table to unwrap it.

"Here, Ed," Pinako said as Edward started to take off his coat, handing him a cup as she went to look at the empty arm port.

"Oh, thanks," Edward said as he took it. Amelia took a cup for herself, blowing over the steaming liquid before she took a stip. It wasn't bad.

"Oh  _nooo_!" Winry cried out in dismay as she looked at what was in the sack, seeing the remains of Ed's automail arm completely destroyed.

"Yeah, sorry, it's a little smashed up," Edward said casually before sipping at his drink.

"A little smashed up? A little?" Winry repeated angrily, "Ed do you see what you've done to my beautiful creation? I slaved over this!"

"It's basically the same, it's just in smaller pieces." Edward replied, only to be met with an infuriated punch from Winry that knocked him on his back like she had done outside. She looked over at the crate that held Alphonse, "Don't tell me, you a little smashed up, too Al? What kind of trouble have you been getting yourselves into?"

Al only let out a hum in response, which made Winry angry enough to kick at his crate and knock him over, the boy letting out a yelp on the way down. "You idiots! All you ever do is worry me!" Winry said with a sigh, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at the two of them, Edward helping his brother to be righted again.

"Well, we just need to get our maintenance done and get out and you won't have to worry about us anymore!" Edward said as he sat on the couch again.

"You can't stay a while?" Pinako said, "It's been a long time since we've seen either of you, and you want to leave just as soon as you got here?" Edward nodded as he looked back at her.

"Al and I finally have a solid clue on how to get our bodies back to normal, and I don't want to spend more time than I have to." He said, and that got Pinako and Winry's attention.

"You have?" Winry asked, her voice sounding hopeful.

"Well, catch us up on it." Pinako said, taking a seat near the couch where Amelia sat, with Armstrong choosing to stand off to the side, "What's so important that you need to leave as soon as possible?"

And Edward explained it to them, with Al helping to further explain some things that Ed left out in his story. He told them how they came across Doctor Marcoh, how he had been a researcher on the philosopher's stone and had told them where to find his research materials so they could work on making a philosopher's stone of their own, but that it was hidden in a massive library where it would be difficult to find it. In the middle of the story, Den came up to Pinako, whining a bit before she told Winry to feed the dog and she went to do that. The dog was happily munching on his lunch by the time Edward had finished his tale.

Pinako tapped her pipe into an ash tray, letting some of it fall out, "All right, I see." She said, "In order to get this information you need to go to Central as soon as possible, am I right?"

"Yeah, this is kind of a rush order." Edward said apologetically. Pinako came around, making a gesture for him to get his feet up as she examined his automail leg.

She let out a small hum as she looked at the difference between Edward's flesh leg and his automail one, "It's not just your arm, your leg needs adjusting too. You've actually grown a couple centimeters it seems."

"Guess your growth's not completely stunted after all," Winry said with a smirk, and Edward glared at her.

"Oh, shut up!" He snapped.

Pinako tapped her pipe on Edward's automail knee, "Leg aside, the shape the arm's in, we'll have to build it from scratch." She said.

"Is there any chance you can have it done in a week?" Edward asked, and Pinako stood up.

"Give us some credit, Ed." She took a drag from her pipe and blew out the smoke with a confident smile, "Three days." She said, and she put the pipe down to take his automail leg off, and Amelia watched as she gave it to Winry who shouldered it before handing her another leg from a bin of spare ones and she put it in place of Edward's old one, "But you'll have to make do with this spare for now."

Edward stood up, and almost lost his balance as he put his weight on the new leg, moving to one side so it was more on his flesh leg, "It's a little difficult to walk on a leg I'm not used to." He said.

"We'll be finished before you get used to it," Pinako promised.

"Three days, huh…?" Winry said, counting off things on her fingers, "Between machining, assembly, connecting, and finishing… that's three all-nighters."

"I'm sorry for all the trouble," Edward said.

Winry turned around with a smile, "Well, you want to get to Central as soon as possible, right? Then I'll work my butt off, for you. But you better believe you're going to pay a fortune in rush order fees!" She made her way upstairs with Edward's old leg, everyone hearing the metal shifting on her shoulder as she went up higher. "I'll get to work on his arm, Granny!"

"All right, I'll take care of his leg!" Pinako shouted back, and coughed once she finished, humming a bit. "Well, I suppose we'll need to get to work, then." She looked over at Armstrong and Amelia, "You two can go ahead and make yourselves at home, if you like."

"Great." Amelia sat back on the couch, pulling out her phone in preparation of treating this little visit like a vacation.

"I'm afraid we can't," Amelia frowned at her teacher's response, glaring up at him, "It simply isn't in the Armstrong tradition to relax in another's home without doing some work for it. Is there anything that you might need done in the time that my student and I are here?"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Amelia muttered to herself, stuffing her phone back into her pocket.

"Well…" Pinako took a moment to think, "I'm not about to turn down free work. If you like, we do need some firewood chopped up, and most of the house could do with some sweeping. It'll get a bit messier now that we'll be working on automail for the next few days."

"Very well!" Armstrong beamed at her in a way that Amelia could swear sparkles were coming from his head, "We shall get to work immediately!" He turned to his student, who still scowled and curled up on the couch to rebel, "Amelia, come and stand to help me chop wood."

"No." She said, knowing she sounded a little petulant as she curled up, wrapping her arms around her legs defiantly. Her teacher frowned, crossing his arms as he went over to her.

"Amelia, stand up so we can work." He said again, and she shook her head.

"She said we could just make ourselves at home." She said, nodding to Pinako, "I'm. Not. Moving." She hugged her legs tighter and glared at him over her knees. "You can't make me move."

"She would probably just break the ax trying to chop wood." Edward joked, and she glared at him.

"You shut your mouth, you little-" She was cut off when someone grabbed the back of her collar and lifted her off the bed, and she couldn't help letting out an "Eep!"

"If you will not come willingly, I will carry you there myself," Armstrong said, holding her out at arm's-length as he carried her outside.

"Oh,  _come on!_  Why do you have to be so freakishly strong?!" Amelia whined as he took her out.

* * *

After many failed attempts at getting an ax into the stumps of wood that Major Armstrong had gotten for her, he decided it was better if Amelia went to sweeping the house instead. It worked out well enough, and she was able to listen to her music as she worked, though she stopped and put it away as she realized the house had very few outlets for electric devices, and she had a limited battery life. She swept the rooms, mostly in silence, not saying much to Pinako as she worked on adjusting the metal leg on a table, keeping everything on a tarp that would make for an easier clean up.

Alphonse was pulled out of his crate with some assistance from Major Armstrong, and they let him be outside instead of stuck inside the box so that he might be more comfortable outside, where a few animals would mistake him for a statue and come close to see him.

She ended up sweeping the living room in silence, moving around the table where Pinako was working as the day went on, hearing the sound of her teacher cutting up wood in the yard (though it wasn't really "cutting" when he was just punching the log and making it splinter. Seriously, why was he so freakishly strong?!). Amelia didn't really do much other than just sweep, leaving the older woman to her work as she watched the dust turn into little piles on the floor.

"So," The older woman's voice got her attention, "You're a student?"

"Um, yeah." She said, straightening up a little, "Major Armstrong is teaching me alchemy."

Pinako let out a small laugh, going back to her leg, "Alchemy. I might've known." She still chuckled to herself and Amelia raised a curious eyebrow.

"Something funny about that?" She asked.

"Just that Edward and Alphonse have talked about alchemy since they were boys." Pinako said, "It figures that when we see them again for the first time in so long, they bring another pair of alchemists." The woman's gaze was focused on the leg, though Amelia couldn't really tell since her spectacles hid her eyes, "Those two boys are incredibly smart, they knew alchemy even from a young age. I suppose that was only proven when they took the alchemy exam and passed."

"Is that so?" She looked back over to the archway to the living room where she could see Alphonse outside, "I bet he was pissed off the whole time he took the test." She said with a small laugh, "It's like the guy is just a ball of anger."

"He does have a bit of a temper." Pinako said, reaching for her screwdriver, "He gets that from his father. I rarely saw it, but he tended to get a bit angry whenever someone called him stupid."

"I didn't know they had a father." She said, having only heard about their mother.

"He left when they were pretty young," Pinako said, "I don't think they were more than four or so at the time. Just up and left without so much as a reason."

Amelia let out a hum, thinking that it might not be best to comment on that. She wasn't really sure what to say, but she did understand what it could be like to have an absent father, though hers was just always working to the point where she rarely saw him. Their father just decided to leave.

She looked up when the door opened, seeing her teacher with armfuls of cut wood, and no shirt. "The wood you requested."

"Oh, thank you," Pinako said without looking up from her work.

"For the love of God, will you please put your shirt on?!" Amelia whined as she looked at her half-naked teacher, "Come on, I don't want to see all that." Pinako looked up, her brows traveling up to her hairline at the sight of the shirtless major, but he did as his student requested, putting the firewood away before he went to get his shirt.

"I haven't seen Edward anywhere around the house in a while." He commented as he pulled his shirt over his shoulders, Amelia letting out a small sigh of relief as she went back to sweeping.

"Yeah," Pinako said, reaching for a socket wrench, "He said he was going off to visit his mother's grave."

The major only hummed as he started to button himself up, "How long will he be gone?"

"A while, most likely. He takes his time there," Pinako said, "We probably won't see him until dinner." She picked up her screwdriver to tighten one of the parts on the leg she was working on, "Major, what kind of lives are the boys leading these days?" The man looked over at Pinako, wondering why she had asked such a question. Amelia listened, though she didn't look their way as she kept working on her own, "They have yet to send us so much as a single letter." Amelia thought it was odd, these people treated each other like family from what she had seen - like a  _real_  family - and they hadn't written them a letter or anything?

"Ed and Al are well-known for their alchemy, even in a high-profile place like Central." The major answered, "Sometimes that gets them into trouble, they seem to have a knack for finding it."

"Yeah, no kidding." Amelia scoffed quietly, remembering their encounter with Scar all too well.

"But don't worry, they're alright." Armstrong said, to soothe any fears that Pinako might have, "The Elric brothers are strong boys."

"Strong, huh?" Pinako repeated with a wry grin, "Yes, I think you could call them that." Armstrong went behind her, perusing the room, and the corkboard full of photos behind them, a few of them framed, showing Edward and Alphonse as children, and Winry, too. Sometimes with the Elric's mother, or with Pinako.

"I'm curious, Madame Rockbell," Armstrong said as he held a framed picture of the three children all pushed together in front of a nervous-looking Trisha, and a scowling Pinako, "You speak of the Elrics as though they were your grandsons."

"Of course," Pinako replied, "I've been watching over them since they were born." She reached for the socket wrench again as she kept up her work, "I'm a friend of the family, you see. The boy's father is an old drinking pal of mine. One day, he up and left the village, abandoning his wife and sons." She paused for a moment, "I don't even know whether he's alive now or not."

"Come to think of it, Madame," Armstrong continued as he put the picture down, looking over the rest of the photos there, "Where are young Winry's parents?"

"Gone, Major." Pinako said, "They both died in the civil war." She pulled on the socket wrench a little harder as she spoke about Winry's parents. Armstrong and Amelia both looked up at the mention of it. Amelia was finding out more about this war with each passing day, it seemed. The Major suffered some kind of depression from it, or maybe some PTSD from what she had gathered from his sisters; Scar was fighting because of the bloodshed in the war; and Winry, the young engineer she had just met, also lost her parents to the war. "My son and his wife were surgeons. They went to the battlefield to do what they could. There were never enough doctors for all the injured soldiers…"

"It was terrible… the war." Armstrong said solemnly, leaving the pictures alone, at last, to look over at Pinako.

"Yes, it was indeed." Pinako agreed. And that seemed to settle that subject matter quite easily. The war was terrible, each person had their own ghosts to deal with from it. There wasn't any need to speak about it at length. "Amelia, can you tell me what time it is?"

"Huh?" She was a little surprised that Pinako asked her, "Um, yeah, it's…" She looked at the clock on the wall, "It's about 4:30."

"I guess it's about time for me to get supper started." Pinako said, pushing back her stool and heading over to the smaller table where her pipe rested, "You look like you could eat a lot, Major, but don't worry. There's plenty."

"Oh, no. Please don't trouble yourself on my account." The major said humbly.

"Food always tastes better with guests, anyway." Pinako said, brushing off his humility as she reached for her pipe, "We also have an empty patient's cot and some spare bedding if you'd like. One of you might need to sleep on the sofa, but we have blankets, too. The boys don't have anywhere else to stay but here, adding two more guests won't be any inconvenience to us." She put the end to her mouth and started to take in a drag.

"What about the house they grew up in?" Armstrong asked, still curious.

Pinako blew out a puff of smoke before she said, "It's gone now. The brothers don't have any home to return to. The day they left, after Ed had gotten his state certification, they burned down their own house."

"What?" Amelia looked up at the old woman in shock, "What the hell would they do that for?"

"My guess is they did it because with no house to come home to, there could be no turning back." Pinako answered simply before turning to her, "Here, you've done enough sweeping dear." She said, coming over to take the broom from her, "Why don't you help me out with supper? I could use the extra hands."

"Um… sure, I guess, but I'm not really familiar with cooking," Amelia said as she let the old woman take the broom away and put it off to the side to rest on the wall. She looked over at her teacher, and grimaced at the sight of him on the verge of tears, she had to guess it was because of the story about the Elric brothers, but she tried to ignore it. She knew better than to try to talk to him when he was like this.

"That's perfectly fine, I just need someone to help me out with the ingredients." She said and Amelia followed behind her into the kitchen to start dinner. Pinako had her cut up a few ingredients as she said she was going to make stew since, "It was Edward's favorite when he was little, it'll be good for him." She didn't really say anything as she sliced up what she had to, putting away ingredients and listening when Pinako told her how to stir the pot so everything would mix but nothing would burn, adding in a little bit of milk here and there, too. She left her to it while she went to go get Winry, asking Major for some help bringing in Alphonse, since his armor was so heavy. They got him inside and Winry came down to start setting the table, putting out some extra plates for the Major and for Amelia, dragging a couple extra chairs from the living room into the dining room.

Soon, it started to get dark, and Pinako and Amelia had finished the dinner. In truth, Amelia was a little proud of her work on the dish, since Pinako had told her she hadn't done anything wrong. She helped Pinako serve it with some bread on the side.

Winry asked her to help Alphonse to his seat, though he waved it off, "I don't really need to sit with you guys, it might be kind of hard to get me to stay still when I'm off balance like this."

"It's not dinner if you don't join us, Al." Winry said, laughing as if he made an obvious joke. Amelia shrugged and came over to one side while Winry lifted him up by his arm, the armored boy helping by moving his good leg when he could as they brought him to his seat. There was no food set in front of him, since he couldn't eat with that body, but it seemed fine to him. In fact, if Amelia didn't know any better, she could swear he was smiling at being given a place at the table, but she couldn't really tell since the armor didn't have any expressions.

Soon enough, the door opened and Amelia grimaced at the sound of paws on the floor, hurrying to her seat as Den came in from the front door. She glared at the dog as she moved behind her seat to use it as a guard as the front door opened wider to show Edward.

"I'm ba-"

"OH, EDWARD ELRIC!" Edward didn't even get to finish his announcement as Armstrong grabbed him up and hugged him tight, his tears pouring now that the subject of the story he had heard had come home. Edward eventually managed to push away with his one arm, but that only left Armstrong to pontificate on his story, "WHAT UNYIELDING LOVE TO TRY TO BRING YOUR MOTHER BACK TO LIFE! WHAT A TREMENDOUS SACRIFICE TO GIVE UP YOUR ARM IN ORDER TO TRANSMUTE YOUR BROTHER'S DISEMBODIED SOUL! WHAT DETERMINATION TO BURN DOWN YOUR OWN HOUSE TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS NO RETREAT!" He cried through a few sobs, reaching for the hem of his shirt and throwing it off, "COME EDWARD! ALLOW ME TO OFFER YOU THIS COMFORTING EMBRACE!"

"Stay back! Don't rub your chest on me!" Edward screamed out in disgust, getting as far away from the Major as possible.

* * *

After a relatively calm dinner, with Pinako making small talk with the major, and Winry poking fun at Edward to make him a little mad, everyone was sent off to bed. Winry stayed up to work on her automail, and Amelia followed the major into the room with the patient's cot.

"You take the cot, Miss Seymour." Armstrong said as he got some spare blankets, "I'll sleep on the couch outside." He pat her shoulder with a smile, though she didn't return it. "Tomorrow, we will begin your alchemy training anew!"

"Great…" Amelia said, not sounding enthusiastic as she went to the cot. It was a little stiff, but nothing she couldn't deal with. She got ready for bed and got comfortable, thinking how this was probably going to be the situation for the next three days until Edward's automail was finished. The idea of spending three days here, in a house with no real air conditioning, and a dog, and her overbearing teacher who was protecting a teenager with the world's shortest fuse wasn't the most pleasant thought to drift off to. But at least she wouldn't have to deal with a 5 AM wakeup call since there was no place for her to do her morning run with Armstrong.

* * *

_It was a white void, there was nothing she could see._

_Kate was standing next to her, looking ahead, and there was a strange person there._

_All white, with no face, barely visible in that void. She saw how it smiled widely. She felt uneasy._

_A massive door appeared, opening wide._

_Black tentacles shot out, wrapping around Amelia's middle, her arms and legs._

_She couldn't hear herself scream._

"GOOD MORNING, MISS SEYMOUR!"

"Aah!" Amelia fell off the cot as she was abruptly woken up, seeing her teacher standing at her door, his arms proudly akimbo, seeing that sparkling glow on him that he seemed to have everywhere. She let out a groan as she rubbed the shoulder she had landed on, looking up at her teacher. "God,  _what?_ "

"I said good morning!" He repeated himself, "It is time for our daily fitness regimen!"

"What?" She looked over to the window, seeing the familiar colors of the sky at 5 AM. She groaned and she let herself fall back on the floor, "Seriously? Do we have to do this here?"

"We cannot train your mind unless we train your body!" Armstrong said, "We may be away from home, but that is no excuse to slack off. I will be waiting outside for you to be dressed and ready." He said before he closed the door, "And I will check on you in five minutes to make sure you are not asleep."

Amelia didn't respond other than sneering at the closed door before she got up and started to get dressed. She didn't pack her exercise clothes in the hope of avoiding this, so she just dressed in the t-shirt and jeans she had come to this world in. Dianna and Delilah hadn't done anything to throw them out, and she kept those clothes close to her. She stepped out to see her teacher waiting, and she yawned as she walked out to the living room with him. "Can't we just wait a little longer? It's not like we have a schedule to keep out here." She griped as she wiped at her eyes.

"Good morning." Amelia jumped at the sound of another voice, looking over at Alphonse's armor as he sat on the couch in the living room.

"Good morning, Alphonse Elric." Armstrong greeted him jovially.

"Morning…" Amelia still rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"You see? There are alchemists who recognize the importance of waking up early to greet the day!" Armstrong said, gesturing to Alphonse. Amelia glared up at the older man, but she noticed something about the room that made her think she could get back at her teacher this once for it.

"So, you want me to be more like a state-certified alchemist?" She asked, and Armstrong nodded, glad she seemed to understand. "Okay," she turned to Alphonse, "Where's your brother?"

"Brother's still asleep." The boy answered.

"Ha!" She grinned widely before she turned back to her teacher, pointing decisively at him, "Edward is the state-certified alchemist, and even  _he's_  not awake right now! You like waking up at ungodly hours for no good reason. I'm going back to bed." She turned around to do just that, only to have her teacher grab the back collar of her shirt and pull her along.

"Don't forget I am  _also_  a state-certified alchemist for you to emulate, so you will come along and finish your regimen for the day." Amelia grumbled, refusing to stand as her teacher dragged her along, feeling her heels rubbing up against the floor as he pulled her outside. She was put on her feet, her arms crossed as she looked out over the hills and fields that filled Resembool, the morning sun still nowhere near the sky, though part of it was growing lighter as time went on. "Now, for your run, I thought we might try a healthy jog to the train station and back." Armstrong suggested.

"Whatever." Amelia started stretching a little before her run, knowing she would be a lot sorer afterwards if she didn't. "Let's just get this over with." She picked up her legs because she knew her teacher would complain otherwise and started the jog, hearing the pounding footsteps of her teacher behind her. He eventually caught up with her, and then went ahead of her, which she expected as much from all their other training together. They ran all the way to the train station, and the sun was just starting to rise as they came back to the Rockbell house. She was already out of breath and sweating like normal when they did this regimen, and that seemed to be enough for the major to let her go back inside and rest while he did his weight-lifting with what he could find around the place.

Amelia came inside and collapsed on the couch next to Alphonse, who looked down at her as she lay on her stomach, flushed and sweaty and breathing heavy. "Does the major make you do that every morning?"

"Like damn clockwork." She groaned, letting her body relax on the cushions, "His family has this whole weird bonding thing about working out, and he thinks it's good to 'train the body and the mind' or some garbage." She sneered a little, "He's such an annoying prick sometimes."

"Well, I suppose that's just his eccentricity," Alphonse said, his voice shaking a little like he was laughing.

Amelia only let out a dry grunt in response as she lay back on the couch, "I just want to sleep and pretend the world doesn't exist for a while." She said, reaching for her phone, starting to get some music, though she grimaced when she saw how low her battery was. She cursed under her breath and pocketed her phone, shutting it down to save what life was left in it until she could find a proper outlet.

"Well, that sounds… kind of odd, but I guess if it makes you happy, you should do that." Alphonse said.

Amelia looked up at the suit of armor as he spoke, moving to sit up next to him instead of laying down, "What are you doing up so early, anyway? I didn't think anyone but the major would be up at this hour."

"Oh, um…" He shifted a bit on the couch, like he was uncomfortable, "This body doesn't really let me sleep. I've been awake all night."

"Seriously?" Amelia's eyes widened a little, "You've been up all night? On this couch? Don't you get stiff after a while?"

"Well… no. My body doesn't really let me feel much of anything, like pain or discomfort." He said, "And I don't need to eat either."

"Huh." Amelia sat, contemplating for a moment, "But you can talk and hear things just fine, right? And see everything?"

"Yeah, that's right."

She hummed, "So it's like… losing your sense of touch, and your sense of taste, and your desire to eat or sleep…" She murmured, trying to picture that kind of existence in her head. She'd had parts of her numbed up before, like with Novocain at the dentist's office when she had a tooth pulled. She tried to imagine that feeling on her whole body, never really feeling anything, or eating anything… Her brow furrowed as she couldn't really understand it. The idea of not being able to feel anything at all, just feeling your body move when something moves it, or not knowing if you're sitting on something soft, or something you shouldn't be sitting on, it was a hard thing to conjure in her mind, "I can't really imagine what that's like."

"It's a… unique experience, I guess." Alphonse said with a shrug from his good shoulder.

"I guess so." Amelia stood up, "Well, I'm gonna get some water, I'm dying from thirst." She said as she made her way to the kitchen.

* * *

Amelia stood off to one side in the kitchen as Armstrong worked with something she couldn't really see yet. They were still continuing her alchemy lessons, and he was apparently very excited for today's. She didn't really know why, but she let him take his time in setting up the lesson since it meant she could relax a little while longer. He stood over the kitchen table as he took out a folded-up piece of cloth that he had brought down from upstairs, she could only assume he had packed it in his suitcase.

Amelia watched as her teacher put down the tarp that had a ready-made alchemic circle on it and stepped aside, "Do you recognize this array?" He asked, and she stepped forward to look at it closer.

"It's a hexagonal array, and without any specific markings to the contrary, I'd guess this one was for basic transmutations involving base elements," Amelia said, remembering what she'd read in her textbooks.

"Yes, exactly." He smiled at her, "Today will be your first lesson in transmutation." Amelia looked up at him with wide eyes. Transmutation was the thing that started manipulation of the elements that allowed alchemists to change things to what they want or need. "Now, do you remember the three steps for transmutation?"

"Yes, understanding, deconstruction, and reconstruction." Amelia recited.

"Explain the steps."

"First you understand the object you are transmuting, knowing its elemental makeup and knowing how much you need to change from those elements in those amounts." Armstrong nodded approvingly, "Deconstruction is where you take the understanding of those elements and separate them purely into those elements. Reconstruction is taking the separated elements and rebuilding them into something else."

"Very good." Her teacher praised her, "Do you remember the elemental makeup of sand?" He asked as he pulled out a small bag and started to pour a little pile of sand into the middle of the transmutation circle.

"Um… sand is silica in a quartz form… so it's silicon dioxide?" She was somewhat certain of that.

"And what is glass?" Her teacher asked.

Amelia knew that one easily, "Glass is superheated silicon melted down and reshaped."

"Excellent." He praised her knowledge, "Now, what I would like you to do is transmute this sand into glass. It can be any form that you like, just remember how much you are working with and make something appropriate to that size." He gestured to the small pile and Amelia came over.

"I can do that." She said, putting her hands on the edge of the circle as she looked down at the pile of sand, picturing what to make. She decided to keep it simple, a glass ball with a flat bottom would be enough, she figured. "Okay, so understanding, deconstruction, and reconstruction…" She muttered, "I think I know what to do."

"Good, then you can transmute whenever you are ready," Armstrong said, stepping back to let his student work.

"Okay…!" Amelia remembered how this worked, having read the steps a hundred times in the alchemy textbooks, she understood the elements she was working with, and she knew that she just needed to get the sand to be hot enough to make glass. She pressed her hands together, knowing this was the first step, by creating a ring with your own body, you were pulling on energy from the tectonic plates shifting around the world. She pressed her hands to the transmutation circle, seeing it activating in her mind's eye, with blue lightning shooting around to heat up the sand and change its shape.

Only it didn't happen like that. She had put her hands down on the circle and nothing happened.

She stared at the sand in the center for a moment before she pulled back, "Wait, I think I did it wrong." She said before she went over the steps mentally again, pressing her hands together, knowing what she wanted to do with the energy from her transmutation and pressed them to the circle again to heat up the sand and change it to glass. But still, nothing happened. She frowned and looked up at her teacher, "Am I doing something wrong? Nothing's happening."

"Keep trying," Armstrong said, who seemed to be expecting this. Amelia tried again, and again, and again. She let out a groan of frustration.

"What  _is_  this?!" She snapped out, "Why can't I do it?! I know the steps, I understand what I'm working with, what's wrong?" She looked up to her teacher, desperately hoping for an answer, but was only met with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

"I can't help you here. It's not something I can give you the answer to." He said.

"Why not?" Amelia asked him, "I have to be able to transmute! After all this studying, if I don't transmute- If I just can't transmute, then I can't be a state alchemist! Everything I've learned will be pointless!"

"This is something that every alchemist needs to learn themselves." Armstrong said, he came over to her side, putting his large hand on her shoulder, "Keep trying, you'll understand."

"Understand? I understand!" She said, "I know to understand, I know to deconstruct, I know to reconstruct, I know the steps!"

"But you don't quite  _understand_." Amelia was starting to get frustrated with this unusually cryptic behavior of his. "Give it time, keep trying until you are able to transmute."

She groaned again, banging her hands against the circle on the table, "I'm trying! What am I doing wrong?!"

Armstrong shook his head, "Getting angry won't help you." He was only met with an angry scowl from his student. All of her other teachers in the past, when she had trouble with something, would help her figure it out, but he wasn't doing anything to help at all! He was just standing there and telling her to keep trying.

"Well, I'm clearly doing something wrong." She said.

"And you will understand it," Armstrong said reassuringly, but Amelia took it as anything but that. "In any case, you're not allowed to leave this table until you do understand it."

"What?!" Amelia looked up at him with wide eyes, "Are you serious?!"

"This is a crucial part of your lessons, Amelia." Armstrong said seriously, "If you cannot understand it, then from this point onward, there is nothing that I can teach you."

"That's not fair! I made a deal with the Fuhrer,  _the leader of your country_ , that I would be able to learn this stuff so I wouldn't go to jail!"

"I'm afraid I can't teach a student incapable of transmutation." Armstrong said solemnly, "This is your responsibility. You need to be able to understand in order to expand your alchemical skillset. His Excellency has no use for an alchemist who cannot perform alchemy." He took a step back, "Now, I have promised to do some more chores for Madam Pinako. You will remain here until you turn the sand into glass." And with that, he left the room, leaving Amelia staring down at the table with the pile of sand on it.

She didn't want to admit it, but he was right in that the Fuhrer didn't have any use for someone who can't perform alchemy. Somewhere in her mind, naively, she assumed it wouldn't be difficult to learn a pseudo-science like alchemy, and that she would be able to get out of jail. But the first time she saw it in action when Armstrong was hunting down Isaac McDougal, and she realized that this science was a real thing that gave someone the equivalent of superpowers from what she could tell, she knew there was a chance she might not be able to do it. She knew that there was a very real, very powerful chance that she wouldn't be able to do alchemy like that, but she had been desperate for a way out and still stayed. Looking at the stand, she was looking down at her inevitable imprisonment, stuck in a jail cell for ten years, eating too-dry bread and slimy stew.

She groaned in frustration, her hands going up into her hair as she tried to figure out what she was doing wrong. She knew the steps, she knew everything about  _how_  to transmute, but some element was missing, something that was preventing her from putting her knowledge into action.

* * *

Half an hour had passed, and Amelia still stared at the pile of sand, unchanged, and stubbornly refusing to transmute. She had been trying still, pressing her hands to make a ring with her body to pull on the energy, and then pressing it to the cloth-drawn circle on the table, only to have no results.

"Oh, come  _on!_ " She was getting so angry and frustrated with herself. She reached her hands up into her hair and tugged, feeling her eyes sting with angry tears. Why couldn't she get this?! Why was this so difficult?! What wasn't she understanding?! What was missing?!  _And why won't her teacher help her figure out the damn answer?!_ She could hear him outside, patching up a hole in the roof and retiling the spot like Pinako had asked of him. She kicked at the table, a little satisfied as she watched the sand pile shift at the motion, "God, fuck this." She would rather take a chance to run away and risk definite imprisonment than know that her deal was a farce.

This was the exact moment that Edward decided to come into the kitchen, looking at Amelia with a curious expression as she kicked at the table leg. "The table's a little wobbly sometimes, but I don't think it deserves to be beaten." He said. Amelia's head shot up to see his face, and his eyes widened at her flushed cheeks and blurry eyes, "What happened to you?"

"I got pissed." She said gruffly, glaring down at the sand pile, "I hate this sand, I hate this thing, I hate this lesson, I fucking hate alchemy!" She said.

Ed chuckled a little to himself, "You sound like a kid throwing a tantrum."

"You shut up!" She snapped at him, "If you were in my position, you wouldn't be laughing!"

"If I was in your position, I would already do whatever I had to do." He walked past her over to the pantry, reaching in and pulling out a loaf of bread and a few other things while Amelia glared at his back. If she hadn't been so frustrated, she would notice how weird it was to see Edward with his hair down, dressed in just a shirt and a pair of shorts.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" She asked, watching as he closed the pantry door with his foot, his arm holding some bread, cheese, and a jar of something. He looked over at her as he put all the things he had gathered onto the kitchen counter.

"This is the kitchen. I'm hungry and I'm making some food." He said, going over to the icebox and pulling out something that Amelia could only assume was bologna of some kind. "What are you doing in here?"

"Armstrong's trying to teach me an alchemy lesson, and  _it's not going over well!_ " She shouted at the ceiling like he would be able to hear her through the roof. She looked down at the pile of sand, "He said I couldn't leave this spot until I transmuted the sand into glass."

"So, why don't you?" Edward asked.

"Because… something's wrong and I don't know what!" Amelia put her hands together, and then on the circle, watching as the sand just shifted, "I keep trying, but nothing is working! I know the steps, I know to understand, deconstruct, and reconstruct. I know sand is silicon dioxide in a crystallized form. I know that alchemy works by pulling energy from the movement of the tectonic plates. But no matter what I do, I can't make this work!" She slammed her fists down on the table in her frustration, "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong!" She pulled away from the table, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hands so those frustrated and angry tears wouldn't fall. "Armstrong said I don't  _understand_ , and that's why it's not working."

" _Oh_ , I see." Edward said, and Amelia looked up at him, "I get it."

"You do?" She asked, "Well, tell me what the answer is here, because if I can't do this, my deal is moot and I go to prison."

Edward shrugged, "You just need to get it. You can have all the information on alchemy in the world, but if you don't get it then you can't transmute." Amelia scowled.

"Okay, now you're just being as vague as he was."

"No, I'm telling you that you don't  _get_  alchemy, not in the way you think you do." Edward tried to clarify, "It's good to know the steps and the makeup, but what you're missing is the part where you get it. You get it, and then you're able to transmute."

"And what exactly am I supposed to  _get_ here?!" Amelia snapped.

Edward frowned at her tone, "If you want my help, you need to calm down and stop raising your voice. Throwing a tantrum isn't going to help."

"Then help me!" Edward scowled and she stopped, she took a deep breath in and out, trying to calm down, "Okay… Okay, I'm just… I'm calm now. I'm good. I'm not yelling." She looked up at him, "Please, I just… I don't want to go to jail over this. Just help me get whatever I'm supposed to get." Edward's expression softened in just the slightest at her pleading.

"Equivalent exchange." Amelia looked at him confusedly.

"What?"

"I do something for you, you do something for me." She frowned.

"So, what, if you help me I owe you a favor?"

"No, if I help you, you make me a sandwich the way I like." Edward raised his arm to show her, "Can't really spread mayonnaise with one hand. Not easily, anyway."

"Oh, is that it?" She asked, "Seems kind of simple."

"What you're asking me to do is pretty simple, so I think it's fair." Edward said, "Your problem is just that you don't get it."

"Okay, but what am I not getting?" She asked, a frustrated tone still in her voice, "I don't know what you mean."

"Let me put it another way," Edward said, "Have you ever encountered something you didn't understand at first? Like a chemical formula, or something?" Amelia paused as she tried to think of what he meant, going back to her lessons in chemistry.

"Yeah, I guess… back when I was first learning algebra." She said, "It took me a little bit to understand how the different formulas worked, like y = mx +b."

"Okay, but you know how to use that formula now, right?" Amelia nodded.

"Yeah, it's all just about putting the variables in the right place."

"And do you remember when you finally started to get it?" Amelia understood what Edward was saying now.

"Oh, I get it now." She said, "You're saying that I don't get it because it hasn't clicked yet, right? I don't understand the formula, so that's why the transmutation isn't working."

"There you go." Edward said, "You just haven't gotten it yet, and that's not really something that can be taught. It's just repeating the information until it sticks and you get it."

"Yeah…" Amelia looked down at the sand pile, then back at Edward, "Would you mind going over everything with me? I just want to make sure I haven't missed anything by accident."

"Okay, but I'm hungry and I want my sandwich soon." Amelia scowled at him.

"I'll make your damn sandwich, alright? Just help me." She still scowled as he came over to the table. "Okay, so… let's just go over the steps first. Understanding, deconstruction, and reconstruction, right?"

"Right."

"I understand that sand is silicon dioxide that's been crystallized, and I know that it's basic elements are silicon and oxygen, so that's deconstructing, and I need to reconstruct it without too much oxygen, and just speed up the molecules of silicon to make it hot enough to turn into glass. That's right, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"So… then I make a ring with my body first, to pull on the energy of the tectonic movements…" She put her hands together, "And then apply that energy into the transmutation." She put her hands to the circle and watched as nothing happened. She sighed defeatedly, "What am I doing wrong? What am I not getting?"

"You might just be too much inside your head." Edward suggested, making her look up. "You're focusing too much on the outcome, maybe try just focusing on this moment."

"It's kind of hard to do that when my future rests on whether or not I can change this stuff." She sarcastically replied.

"But you're not going to jail now, right?" Edward's words did give her a little comfort. "Armstrong won't send you off without giving you a chance to prove that you can be the alchemist you're supposed to be. He's too nice for that."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Amelia said, looking down at the sand pile.

"When you're transmuting, you have to focus entirely on that." Edward said, "At least, that's how it was when I first started. All my concentration went into the transmutation."

"When did you first start doing alchemy?" Amelia asked.

Edward shrugged in a way that should have appeared modest, but the smirk on his face said it was more of a smugness, "I was about five or six."

"Seriously? You're a fucking liar." Amelia dismissed it immediately.

"I am not! I was certified as an alchemist when I was 12, I know my shit." Edward huffed, "And I know that when you start out, for some people, it's hard to understand it, but when you get it, you just… get it."

Amelia looked back down at the sand pile, pushing away the fears she had about jail, about spending so many years in there, or that she would have to plan an escape and get lost and die in the middle of nowhere somehow. She took a deep breath in and out as she focused on the sand, picturing the chemical formula for it in her mind's eye. She stood up straight and pressed her hands together before she brought them down on the circle. To her shock, she watched as the circle lit up, the sand in the middle of it shifting and swirling as it was hit by the little lightning bolts over and over until it grew red and changed into the little glass ball she had been hoping for.

"I did it!" She cried out, reaching to pick up the finished product, and hissing in pain as she pulled her hands away. It was still kind of hot. "Okay, that hurt a little, but I did it!" She couldn't help smiling, she felt more accomplished than she had in years. She smiled brightly at Edward, who smiled in turn.

"Yeah, good job." He said, "Now you can make me a sandwich like we agreed on." Amelia's smile fell slightly, but she sighed and went around him, going over to where he had put the bread and meats and everything to make the promised food. Edward watched over her shoulder, telling her how much of what he wanted on his food, which was mostly just a lot of bologna and cheese with mayonnaise on either side. She handed him the sandwich when it was done and he took it with a smile, biting down and eating it as Amelia grabbed her glass ball (which had cooled since she made the sandwich) and ran outside to where the ladder rested on the side of the Rockbell house.

"Teacher! I did it!" She called up to Armstrong, who looked back and saw the little ball she held, "I did it! I transmuted the sand!" He quickly started to make his way down from the roof, and Amelia grimaced at the sight of tears on his cheeks, "What the-?"

"YOU CALLED ME TEACHER!" He shouted before he threw his arms around her and picked her up, despite her very loud protests against the hug, "THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE EVER CALLED ME TEACHER! I AM SO PLEASED, AMELIA!"

"Stop! Put me down! I can't breathe!" She shouted back at him, and he put her down, though it still took him a second to calm down and stop crying, "Jesus, do you have to cry over everything?"

"It's just so moving that you finally recognize me as your teacher!" Armstrong said as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Okay, whatever, but look! I transmuted the sand like you asked! It finally clicked!" She held up the thing she was so proud of and her teacher bent down to examine it. He gently plucked it from her fingers. It was small, no bigger than the palm of Amelia's own hand, smooth with a couple of spots concaved in just the slightest where some oxygen remained inside and had changed the shape, but it was otherwise a good transmutation.

"Excellent work, Amelia!" He beamed at her, seeing his own student shining with pride at being praised. "With this, we can move on to the next stage of your alchemical training!"

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, with Amelia working on transmuting what things she could find, with Armstrong helping her to understand the alchemical makeup of common household objects since it was important that she knew how to transmute wood, should she ever be in a combat situation. There was dinner shared among the group, and then they went to bed. Amelia didn't have any strange dreams again like the night before but slept soundly until the following morning.

She went hunting for an outlet the next morning, seeing as how her phone battery was slowly depleting and she didn't want to be without it for the trip back. She managed to find one in Winry's room, where she had her own work bench as she worked with Edward's automail. After asking if it was alright, Amelia came inside and plugged up her phone into the outlet, sitting beside it as she watched the battery slowly come back to her phone. The room was silent other than the sound of gentle clinking, clicking, and drilling from Winry's work.

"It was Amelia, right?" Winry asked after a few moments of quiet, and Amelia looked up.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Can I ask you something? About Edward?" Amelia shrugged and Winry took that as permission, "How are things going for him in Central? I always worry about him, but he never calls to tell us what's happening."

Amelia shrugged again, "I don't really know, to be honest with you. I barely know the guy, I've only met him a couple times before I had to take this trip with him." She answered, "But I know he gets into trouble a lot, which doesn't surprise me because he's an ass." Winry smiled and snickered a little as she got back to work.

"Yeah, he is kind of an ass." She agreed, "He only comes home for repairs, he's always late for any maintenance, and every time I see him it's just for the work." She looked carefully at a piece of Edward's shoulder that she was working on, making sure she had everything properly connected. "I just wish he would take better care of my precious automail. Sometimes, I think he forgets just how much work goes into these."

"I wouldn't know about that." Amelia said, "But he does seem kind of frustrated without his arm right now. I think he'll appreciate it a little more once he has it back." Winry smiled but said nothing more as she kept working. Amelia passed a little time distracting herself on her phone, pulling up a couple games to play while she waited for the battery to finish charging, even though she knew that was just making it slower to charge, it was easier than just sitting in silence with Winry as she worked.

"What is that thing, anyway?" She looked up when the mechanic inquired about her phone.

"It's a phone." She said, holding it up to show her the screen, "Well, kind of. It does a lot of other stuff than just call people. It's a piece of technology from my home, and it's kind of the only thing I have that makes me feel comfortable." Winry's eyes got a little wide as she saw the screen was brightly colored, with parts of it moving at Amelia's touch.

"That looks incredible! Can I see it?" Winry asked, Amelia shrugged as she unplugged it and handed it to her.

"Just for a second, it needs to finish charging." She took it back before Winry could touch it, "Your gloves are covered in grease, could you…?"

"Oh, right." Winry took off her gloves and reached for the phone again, moving her finger over the screen with starry eyes as she watched it interact with her touch. She pressed a button or two to test what they did, and went between apps to see what they did. "This is amazing! I've never seen a piece of technology like this!" She smiled and turned to Amelia with an expression not unlike that of a child about to beg for candy, "Would it be okay if I took this apart to see how it worked?"

"Hell no!" Amelia snatched her phone back in a second, clutching it to her chest as she glared at the mechanic, "You're not bringing any tools anywhere near my phone! It's an extremely delicate piece of technology!"

"Oh, come on! I'd put it back together again, you don't even need to worry!" Winry said, and Amelia backed out of her reach with an angry scowl.

"I'm leaving." She stomped out of the room, carrying her charger with her, instead deciding to begin the search again for another outlet.

* * *

Amelia ended up finding another outlet outside, she guessed it was for yard work of some kind, or some kind of weird mistake in the architecture. She didn't particularly care as she waited in the sunlight with her phone. She put it aside as she grew bored with it, looking out ahead of her and onto the horizon of Resembool. She could see small mountains surrounding the place, with rolling hills covered in green grass. And it was so quiet, too, she could hear a couple birds chirping, and a few hens clucking nearby.

She looked around, just observing the environment. Alphonse wasn't too far away, but his back was facing her and it was hard for him to move from where he sat up against a barrel. Den was napping near him, and he hadn't woken up when she came outside, so she was glad for that. She wasn't even sure Alphonse knew she was there, but she didn't really want to ruin anything.

She jumped when she heard a door slam and Den's head lifted up as all three of them turned to see a disgruntled Edward coming outside and flopping down next to his brother in the grass.

"Did you bother Winry again?" Alphonse asked.

"She kicked me out." Edward muttered.

"They said it would take three days, right?" His brother asked, "So give them three days."

"Yeah, I know, I know…" Edward sighed, "It's just when I think of a clue to the stone sitting in Central Library somewhere, I get so impatient!" He squirmed a little on the grass, Den copying him happily before Edward relaxed and laid back. He looked back from where he was lying down to see Amelia, who looked back at him with a blank expression, "What are you doing out here?"

"Staying as far away from your mechanic as possible." Amelia replied. Her voice got Den's attention, and he started trotting over to her. She gasped and got up, putting some space between her and the dog, only for him to come after her, "No, go away! Shoo! Bad dog!" He panted happily as he came closer, and she walked around him, going over to Edward and Alphonse in an attempt to get further away, "No! Play with them! They like you!" Edward reached up to hold onto Den's collar as he walked past him, keeping him still even though he whimpered, wanting to play with Amelia.

"What's your problem with dogs?" Edward asked, "Den's a really good dog, he doesn't bite."

"That doesn't mean he won't!" Amelia snapped, glaring at the dog, who only looked back at her with his tongue hanging out as he panted. "I can't stand dogs; especially big ones like him."

"But why?" Alphonse asked, "Did you get bit by a dog?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." She said, " _Repeatedly_  bitten, I might add." She glared at Den, "I don't like dogs."

"Well, Den won't bite if you know what you're doing." Edward said, and Amelia vehemently shook her head.

"No! I don't want that thing anywhere near me!" She said. The door slammed again and they looked up to see Winry coming out with an automail arm.

"Here you go!" She said happily, "It's all ready!" She smiled as she held up her completed arm, and Edward grinned.

"Finally!" He jumped up and rushed inside, with Amelia following after him since Den seemed keen to stay outside with Alphonse.

She watched as Winry brought him inside and got him to sit on the couch, Pinako coming in carrying his leg. The Major stood to the side, "So, this is where you'll reattach his limbs?" He asked.

"It's not a complicated process once all the ports are in place," Pinako said as she took away Edward's spare leg that he had been walking around on for the last three days. "But it does take a little bit of maintenance to make sure everything is in order before we let him go." She put the leg on a table to where it could reach Edward as Winry helped him take off his shirt so she could have better access to the port on his shoulder.

Amelia was surprised at Edward's fit body underneath his clothes, he was actually pretty fit. She wasn't really expecting to see him with a six pack. But when she looked at his shoulder, she saw a surprising myriad of scars around the automail port. "Those look intense." She commented without really thinking.

"Well, scars are a side effect of surgery." Edward said, "Personally, I think it makes me look kind of badass." Amelia and Winry both snorted in laughter at his words and he frowned, "What? Scars make you look badass! It's a fact!"

"If that's what makes you feel better…" Winry said as she started to attach his arm.

"Alright, looks like everything is in place for the nerves to connect." Pinako said, "Are you ready Edward?" The grimace came back as he nodded in response, watching as the old woman and her granddaughter got the tools they needed for it. "On one,"

"Two," Winry continued the count.

"Three!" They spoke together as they pulled a lever, and Edward stifled a groan in pain as he sat on the couch, Amelia watching him squirm a little before he calmed down.

"That's the worst part, every time! When the nerves have to connect like that…" He said, "Once we have the philosopher's stone, I can kiss that pain goodbye."

"Our biggest source of income. I'll be sad to see you go." Pinako said before she pulled on one spot hard, and Edward flinched in pain.

"Hold still." Winry said as she worked, "Do you want me to do this right or not?" She pulled on another spot and Edward flinched again. "It's just so lovely!" Winry stood up as she spoke, a dreamy expression on her face. "The smell of oil, the hum of the ball-bearings, the rugged yet amazingly beautiful form created through anatomical engineering!" She sighed out, "Ahhh, how wonderful you are, my automail!"

"Crazy gearhead…" Edward muttered.

"You're lost without me, alchemy freak." Winry snapped back, and Edward was quiet as the finished his maintenance and covered the parts they had worked on.

"Alright, we're done," Pinako said, stepping back as Edward stood up. He tested his new limbs, stretching out his new arm and stretching his leg up against a wall. Amelia was again surprised at his fitness and flexibility as she watched him essentially do the splits to stretch out his leg against the wall. "Well?"

"Yeah, it feels good!" Edward said as he rotated his shoulder around with a smile.

"I increased the percentage of chrome this time, so it should be less prone to rusting." Winry told him, "The trade-off is that it's not quite as strong, so don't try anything crazy--" She couldn't finish before Edward was already running out the door on his new leg, "Hey, listen up!"

"Al, it's your turn!" Edward hollered, eager to repair his brother. Amelia watched her teacher go upstairs to grab something and came back down with a tarp sack that jingled oddly as he walked down the stairs. She wondered if it was the remaining bits of Alphonse's armor. She walked back outside with him as he went over to where Edward was with his brother, talking to him and showing off his new arm and leg. Armstrong laid out the bag, opening it to show it was the remains of Alphonse's armor that they had managed to collect after the attack from Scar. They watched him immediately go to work, placing the remaining missing limbs on one side as he undid the tarp that covered Al's right shoulder and leg.

"You can fix him right here?" Armstrong asked, sounding a little impressed.

"Yep, you have to know the trick to it, though." Edward said, standing straight as he reached for Al's helmet, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Al replied as Edward took off his helmet, showing the seal on the inside of the armor.

"Major, you see that seal on the inside of his back?" Edward asked as he pointed it out, Amelia coming a little closer to take a better look at it. "That's the medium between Al's soul and the armor. So, I have to be sure not to ruin it."

"It looks like it was drawn in blood," Amelia commented as she looked at the dark red circle.

"Well, it was kind of an emergency situation." Edward said with a light chuckle. Amelia wasn't sure how to respond, so she said nothing. Edward transmuted his brother's soul after they had tried to transmute their mother. She guessed, at that point, he had already lost his leg. He must have used that blood to draw the seal. She didn't know how old Edward was when he had done the transmutation, but the thought of a child, bleeding from a missing leg, doing everything to transmute the soul of the last person left in his family… It was a little heartbreaking. She stepped back as Edward stepped forward, putting his brother's helmet back before he clapped his hands together. Amelia's eyes widened as she realized Edward was transmuting without a transmutation circle, watching as Alphonse's body began to mend itself in the light of the transmutation. She could only assume this was the reason he was accepted as a state alchemist, because alchemy was supposed to be impossible to perform without a transmutation circle, at least according to her textbooks that she read.

Soon, the light faded and Alphonse stood up, testing his arm and putting weight on his leg, standing tall at 7 feet. "There you go! You're good as new!" Edward said, grinning up at his brother, "You ready to try it out?"

"Yeah!" Alphonse replied, the two of them rushing off and starting to spar with one another while Amelia and Armstrong watched from the side.

"He didn't… use a transmutation circle." Amelia said as she watched them fight with moves that she had only seen in movies, they were trained in martial arts as well?

"Yes, it is the reason that Edward became a state alchemist." Armstrong said, "He is the only alchemist that is able to do such a feat."

"That's amazing…" Amelia said under her breath, "Do you think I could learn to do that someday?" Armstrong looked down at his student.

"I can't say for certain, I'd never heard of circle-less alchemy before Edward. I know I can't teach you that." He said, "But if you continue your studies in alchemy, perhaps one day, you can." He encouraged her, and Amelia felt determination welling up inside of her. This guy, who wasn't much older than her, was already so far ahead. The idea of coming up to his level and showing off was actually a very pleasing one. She hoped that day would come, but she had a long way to go before then.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent packing for tomorrow, since Edward and Alphonse wanted to leave as soon as possible to get to Marcoh's research notes that he had hidden in Central. Amelia had spent the remainder of the day getting her phone to charge and getting it ready for the trip, as well as getting in a few more transmutation lessons with her teacher. She kept up with the title, though she was wary of using it when she was too close to him, in case he became moved with emotion and decided to hug her again.

Soon enough, the evening came, and Amelia was walking down the hall to get a late-night snack before she went to bed since she was feeling a little peckish. The Major had gone to another room to use the Rockbell's telephone, mentioning he needed to get some people ready for him in Central. She didn't particularly care, but she stopped when she noticed the door to the living room was open slightly, and she could see inside to see Edward asleep on the couch, snoring lightly as Alphonse corrected his body so he didn't sleep with his stomach out of his shirt.

"Sleeping with his tummy out again… What am I gonna do with him?" He asked himself. Pinako smiled as she looked up at the suit of armor, holding onto her pipe.

"It's like you're the older one, huh Al?" She asked amusedly.

"He can be a handful," Alphonse's voice mimicked her amused tone, "Someone has to look after him."

Winry came over with a blanket and draped it over Ed's body on the couch. "How old are the two of you boys now?" Pinako asked.

"I'm fourteen, and Brother's fifteen," Alphonse said. Amelia felt that knowledge sting a little, he was a year younger than her and already so much farther ahead?

"To think, someone as young and as small as he is could be used as a human weapon." Winry said, taking a seat on the couch next to Edward's head, "It's almost funny. Especially watching him sleep." Amelia frowned at the term "human weapon" but based on what she had seen of state alchemists like her teacher and Edward, she wondered if that's what all alchemists were meant to be. Human weapons in combat for the betterment of the state. She wasn't sure she liked that idea, since she was training to be one.

"Thank you, both of you." Alphonse's quiet voice pulled Amelia out of her thoughts and she looked back in the room.

"What's this? Why so formal?" Winry asked.

"Granny, Winry, I'm so grateful to you for always welcoming us like we're really family." Alphonse said, "He won't ever say it, but… I know Brother feels the same way."

"Al…" Winry's voice came through, sounding a little touched that Alphonse would say that.

"Don't you worry, dear. We know he feels that way, too." Pinako said, "He doesn't have to say it."

"Granny, Winry… Thank you." Alphonse said again.

Amelia stood to the side, still by the door as she had listened in on the whole conversation. Hearing Alphonse's gratitude to them like this made her feel out of place. Alphonse and Pinako and Winry and Edward all knew each other for so long, and they all really cared about each other. A bitter jealousy burned inside of her for a moment as she thought about how close they were, and how she wasn't even that close to her own blood. She moved away from the door, heading back to bed quietly. She had suddenly lost her appetite.

* * *

The next morning, Amelia was woken up bright and early by the Major to head out for their train. They planned on getting the first one out, which left at around 6 AM. She got dressed and met them outside in the early morning light, watching as Edward pulled on his red coat and the glared at a little. It was bright red and so damn gaudy… why would he wear that? And with black leather pants, too.

Pinako met them outside, keeping one hand on Den's collar so as to keep Amelia at ease about the dog. None of them seemed to understand why she didn't like dogs, but they were at least respectful about it.

"Thank you again for everything, Granny," Edward said to her.

"Sure," Pinako replied.

"Hey, where's Winry?" Alphonse asked, noticing the blonde girl was absent from seeing them off.

"Resting." Pinako said, "She stayed up three nights in a row. Want me to wake her?"

"Nah, that's okay." Edward said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "She'd just nag me. 'Make sure to do your maintenance' and whatever." He turned and started to walk, Alphonse following behind him, and Amelia and Armstrong doing the same. They had taken a few steps down the path when Pinako called out to them.

"Hold on a second, boys!" The brothers stopped and turned to see Pinako grinning with her pipe in her mouth, "You should come back once in a while and have dinner with us." Alphonse laughed quietly and nodded his head.

Edward smiled as he looked at her, "You want us to come all this way out into the mountains just for some dinner?" Pinako only smiled in reply, and that seemed to be enough for Edward.

"Edward, Alphonse," They looked up to see a tired Winry still in her pajamas resting on the rail of the balcony by her window, smiling as she waved to them, "Come back soon, 'kay?"

Edward turned around, his hand going to rub the back of his head before he waved goodbye to her, "Yeah." Alphonse waved to Winry, and the group continued on their walk to the train station to make their way back to Central. Amelia felt that jealousy burning inside her chest at how… kind they were to see Edward and Alphonse off like this. She didn't say anything as she kept walking with them, her focus just on returning to Central and learning more about alchemy so she could move forward to her state certification. She didn't have time to be jealous over someone else's family, she had her own goals to meet and she needed to keep her attention on that, to perfect her transmutation to where she could be certified and move forward with her life.

Still, she did make one comment as they got further out.

"Why the hell do you wear that coat? It's gaudy as hell."

"What are you talking about?" Edward proudly puffed his chest out, "I think it looks awesome!"

"You look like a skinny tomato with a rotten inside with you wearing those leather clothes." She said, hearing Alphonse laugh a bit at her remark, Edward glaring back at her.

"You just don't understand good taste." He said.

"Good taste?" Amelia repeated, "Are you kidding? Your jacket has to be the biggest eyesore I've ever seen! I've honestly been wanting to say this since I saw you wear it. It's ugly."

"You shut up! I've got a great sense of style!"

"Honestly, your brother wearing a suit of armor looks so much better than you do in that outfit."

"Thank you, Amelia!" Alphonse was beaming at the compliment.

"Of course, Al looks better! He looks awesome with armor!" Edward got a little more aggressive, as if he was daring her to say his brother looked bad in a body he couldn't change.

"Yeah, and you're fucking hideous, man. You need to change something about that."

"I don't need to change anything!"

"I don't know, I don't think it could hurt to change your style a bit, Brother." Alphonse put in.

"Ha!" Amelia grinned triumphantly as Edward looked to his brother with an expression betrayal.

"Alphonse!"

"I'm just saying, it couldn't hurt to be more conspicuous sometimes." He said, holding up his hands defensively.

"I agree with both of them, Edward." The Major said, "There is a great benefit to dressing like a gentleman, especially when dressing so outrageously can get you into trouble since you're so easily spotted."

Edward let out a loud shout in frustration, "AHHH! Shut up! Shut up! You guys just don't understand my sense of style!"


	12. A Cruel Truth

_"Better a cruel truth_

_than a comfortable delusion."_

_- **Edward Abbey**_

* * *

 

"No."

"Just let me look at it."

"I said no!" Amelia clutched her phone tighter to her chest, glaring at Edward as she huddled up more in her seat on the train.

"At least tell me what it's made out of!" Edward snapped as he tried to reach for it, only for Amelia to turn so that the phone held tight against her body was facing away from him.

"Back off!"

"Brother, just leave it alone." Alphonse insisted, trying to get the pair to stop fighting. He wouldn't deny he shared his brother's curiosity at the little device that Amelia had, but she clearly didn't want to share what it was.

"She's been just messing with that thing for _two days_ , Al." Edward said, "She says it's this technology or whatever, but I just want to see what it  _is!_ " He lunged and Amelia's immediate reaction was to thrust out her foot and it landed on his chest, knocking the breath out of him for a second before he fell back in his seat, "Ow!" He rubbed at the spot she had kicked.

"That's what you get for trying to touch my stuff!" Amelia snapped at him.

"Didn't anyone teach you how to share?!" Edward snapped back, only to be met with a rather loud raspberry from Amelia, making sure she got some spittle in his face.

"Children, please-" Armstrong was cut off by both of them.

"I am _not_  a child!"

"I told you, I'm not a kid!"

Alphonse observed the pair and let out a sigh, his armor clinking as his shoulders slumped, "Brother, just let it go. She clearly values whatever that thing is very much."

"It's a phone." Amelia corrected him.

"Not like any phone I've ever seen," Edward muttered, still rubbing his chest.

"That's because you've only ever seen landlines."

"What does that even  _mean?!_ "

"If you're not smart enough to figure that out, that's your problem!"

"If you let me see it, I could figure it out!" He reached again and Amelia scowled as she turned away from him.

"I said  _back off_ , you little grub!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Alphonse reached for his brother to pull him back before he did any real damage, though he did end up kicking Amelia's shin as he was pulled away, thrashing in his little brother's arms.

"Ow!" Amelia glared at him, tucking her phone away to return the favor and kick him back, but her teacher grabbed her before she could, "Hey! Let go!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Armstrong's booming voice went through the car, making everyone in it jump as he got the attention of the two teenagers, "You  _both_  need to stop arguing and calm down!" He put Amelia back in her seat as Edward was put back in his own. "We have been traveling for too long, and I know that it is frustrating and we are all very tired, but arguing with each other will help no one." Amelia only kept her arms crossed and Edward did the same without realizing. "Now, why don't you both apologize to each other so we can move on?"

"What do I have to apologize for?  _He_  started it!" Amelia griped.

"Only because you're selfish!" Edward snapped back.

"It's  _my_  phone! I can do whatever I want with it!"

"Will both of you be quiet?!" Alphonse's voice cut through their bickering, both of them jumping at the sound since it was pretty rare for Alphonse to get angry, "It's amazing how similar you two are, and yet you can't get along?" That got reactions from both of them.

" _What?!_ "

"I'm nothing like her!" Edward pointed at her, "She's selfish and bratty! I'm not like that at all!"

"I'm not bratty!" Amelia snapped, "At least I don't have the world's shortest fuse like  _you_  do! You have no restraint at all!"

"I have  _tons_  of restraint!"

"You blow up every time someone even mentions the word 'short'!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE COULD BUILD A TREE HOUSE IN A BUSH?!"

"She didn't say that, Brother."

"Will you both shut up?" A passenger snapped at them from down in the car. "I can't think with you guys shouting!"

"How about  _you_  shut up?!" Amelia snapped, leaning her head over the back of the chair to see who it was.

"Yeah! You're making noise, too!" Edward yelled back at him.

"You're bothering everyone!" Amelia continued.

"No, that's  _you!_ " The passenger said before he opened a book and buried his nose in it.

As the train whistle blew to show they were nearing the station, there was a very audible sigh of relief from the other passengers sharing the car with the bickering teens. Amelia looked back at Edward, who glanced at her. She glared at him, hating the idea that they were even remotely similar to each other, especially considering he had such a terrible sense of style along with his monster of a temper. She would rather be more of an alchemist like him since that would help her more, but asking him for help with that would take more humility than she was capable of showing. He glared back at her just as harshly, sharing similar thoughts of how she was a spoiled, selfish brat who trusted no one. He didn't know how Major Armstrong put up with her, though he supposed the bonus he got from the Fuhrer's office helped with that.

"Alright, let's all calm down." Armstrong said, putting his hand on Amelia's shoulder to put her back in her seat, which she did with crossed arms, still glaring at Edward, "When we arrive in Central, we should get something to eat and take a moment to relax. We've barely had any in the time that we've been traveling."

" _After_  we go to the first branch of the library," Edward said, and Armstrong sighed.

"Yes, after we go to the first branch." He lamented.

"I say we ditch them to research so we can get some food," Amelia said, still glaring at Edward. It was almost a staring contest between the two of them to see who could glare harder.

"For once, I agree with that notion." Edward said, "The library would be a lot quieter with you gone."

"We will  _not_ ," Armstrong said firmly, and Amelia grumbled quietly, but didn't say anything more as she and Edward kept glaring at each other. It seemed their arguing had finally tired each other out.

When the train came to a stop, there were a few passengers more than eager to get out of the car shared by the Elric brothers before they left. And the group carried on with their own luggage as they headed out of the train station to make for the library.

"I think you will rather like the library, Amelia." Armstrong said, "It is filled with vast alchemical knowledge that we can study to help improve your alchemic technique." He held up the little glass ball she had made, "You already show promise from this transmutation."

"Thanks." She said, smiling a little at the praise, but it fell away before anyone noticed it. They made their way into a taxi cab, with Amelia sitting next to her teacher and Alphonse next to his brother. It was an interesting thing to look at, should one peer through the car windows, seeing a massive man sitting across from a suit of armor on one side, and seeing two teenagers huddled against the doors to avoid the large man and the suit of armor on the other side. The ride to the library was quiet until Alphonse and Edward started talking about how they might identify Marcoh's research notes. They spoke of what the book might look like, saying it would probably be a journal of some kind, something small and not easy to notice, with earth tones to match the rest of the books in the library so it wouldn't stand out too much.

Though, when they arrived at the library, it wasn't going to be easy to do something like that.

When they arrived at the building, they found the place in ruins, walls scorched with the roof caved in, ashes spread all over the ground, the whole area reeking of fire and burnt paper. Amelia held a hand to her nose as they approached the building, trying to block the smell with the scent of her own skin. "So, where is the library anyway?" She asked, looking at the other buildings. They had all been far enough away to avoid any fire damage like the one in front of them.

"I'm afraid we're looking at it," Armstrong said, and Amelia's eyes widened as she looked at the building.

"But it's completely destroyed…"

"Doctor Marcoh's research…" Edward's voice came through, and Amelia and Alphonse glanced over at him, seeing his shoulders shaking a little as his head was held down, his bangs covering his face, preventing them from seeing his expression. At first, Amelia thought he might be on the verge of crying, and she could imagine why - after all that they had been through, to have the library suddenly burn down after getting a lead on the philosopher's stone had to be devastating.

"Brother?" Alphonse called to him concernedly, only to jump back when Edward let out a loud yell in frustration.

"GAAHHH! Doctor Marcoh's research! It's all gone!" He shouted into the sky angrily.

"This is an unexpected tragedy," Armstrong said, his voice surprisingly flat where Amelia would have expected a more emotional performance. "There may be a few books left in the building that survived."

He didn't need to say anything more before Edward ran past the yellow and black striped caution tape that kept the area cordoned off. "Brother, wait!" Alphonse ran after him, with Amelia and Armstrong walking behind the pair up the stairs into the remains of the library. Amelia hated the smell of the place, both hands coming up to her nose to block out the stink. She looked over when a white handkerchief was put in front of her.

"This may make it a little easier to breathe." He said, "It's scented." She took the handkerchief from him, surprised to smell lavender on the thin cloth that helped her to relax a little.

"It's nice." She said through the handkerchief, and she looked back at him, "Why do you have this?"

"Catherine gave a pack of them to me as a present," The major beamed proudly when talking about his younger sister, though his attention was put back on Edward as they found him crouched over part of the floor, reaching for the remains of a book, only to have it crumble and its ashy remains flying away from his hands.

"There's nothing left here but ashes, everything's gone," Edward said to himself as he looked at the remains, slowly pushing himself up. The group had been caught up in looking at the library's remains that no one noticed a pair of soldiers making their way towards them.

"Major Armstrong!" At the sound of the new voice, everyone turned to see who it was. They were faces that Amelia and Armstrong knew well enough.

"Ah, Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh. To what do we owe this pleasure?" The Major asked as he looked at his saluting subordinates.

"You have been ordered to report back to the Command Center, sir," Ross said as she stood at attention, her hand going down from her salute.

"We'll be taking over supervision of Edward Elric and his brother effective immediately," Brosh said, doing the same as his partner.

Armstrong let out an approving hum whereas Amelia let out a relieved sigh, her shoulders slumping. "Very well, he's yours." He said.

"What _is_  this?" Edward complained, "Just when I think I'm home free, they saddle me with more bodyguards? This is getting  _old!_ "

"Hey, at least we don't have to deal with him anymore." Amelia said through the handkerchief, looking back over at the two other officers, "Be ready for him, he's a real handful."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from  _you_." Edward scowled, and she returned the gesture behind her handkerchief she had borrowed.

"Then we'll let you tend to your duties at once!" The Major said as he put his arm around his student's shoulders, who was still glaring at Ed as he pushed her forward, eager to separate the two before another argument broke out.

* * *

They returned to the Armstrong estate, where Amelia was welcomed by Strongine and Catherine, as well as the twin maids Delilah and Dianna. She was glad to be back in the comfort of luxury. Although there had been nothing wrong with the coziness and warmth of the Rockbell home in Resembool, she couldn't help but feel out of place. But in this home, surrounded by velvet sofas and grand pianos, she felt like she belonged. It was the society of the rich and condescending, an environment she knew too well and survived in perfectly.

After getting a good meal in her, she had taken off to do some more alchemy lessons and she learned more about transmutation on the small scale, with Armstrong telling her how important it was to recognize the chemical makeup of common furniture as she may need that knowledge in a tight situation.

"Like, in combat?" She asked him. Her teacher's face hardened a moment before he nodded.

"Yes, state alchemists carry with them a great deal of honor and respect, but the title also brings enemies." He said solemnly, "To fight for the state is a great privilege, but you  _must_  be prepared to fight for the state with your  _life_. That is one of the main reasons alchemists are part of the military. We are the reserve team for when regular soldiers cannot end the fight. We are expected to finish it."

"Is that how it was in Ishval?" The question came out before she realized how insensitive it was, but her teacher stopped her before she could apologize.

"That is exactly how it was." He said, "And as terrible as the war was, you need to realize that you may face your own Ishval Civil War someday. This is part of the weight that comes with being a state alchemist." They didn't talk on the subject anymore as they began to discuss the chemical breakdown of concrete so that she could transmute it in a pinch if she was fighting outside in the city. She learned to transmute some blades, something simple if she needed it. But after just a few, she felt exhausted and they ended the lessons for the day.

She asked where the Armstrong family kept their books and wasn't too surprised to find they had a private library. She went with Dianna and Delilah behind her since the twins were going to act as her supervision while Armstrong returned to the Central office to return to his work in the investigations department. She intended to put back the book he had loaned her  _The Heart of The Golden Rose_  and also find the next book. She had finished it on the train ride back from Resembool, and while the ending was sweet with Rose and Damien finding love together, she wanted to know what would happen next since she knew there was a saga.

The library had an entire room, filled wall-to-wall with bookshelves pressed up tight against one another and towering up to the high ceiling of the room. She found a few chairs here and there for comfortable reading and found one of them occupied when she came in. At first, she thought it was Strongine, but on second glance she saw the golden ringlets of Strongine's hair was replaced with a sharp-cut blonde bob instead. "Oh, you're Amue." She smiled at her briefly, not wanting to be rude, "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt your reading." Amue didn't say anything as she turned her attention back to the book she held. Amelia was surprised she was so quiet in comparison to her boisterous identical sister and brother, but she supposed every family had to have a black sheep.

She went through the bookshelves, wishing she knew the organization system in place, as she wasn't sure how to do it. Her first thought was that the Armstrongs organized their books alphabetically by author name like she had seen in other bookstores and her own family's private library, but soon enough she realized the books were categorized by some system she didn't know, and then alphabetized by  _title_. She was struggling a little with finding the right book, unable to see the ones on the top shelf since she didn't share the massive height of some of the family, though there was a ladder available that she took. She had to guess they put it in for Catherine since she was she smallest of the bunch of them. Her fingers moved over the spines of the top shelf, reading over the titles, slowly going down as she looked for the name of the author of the book she held in the hopes of finding the second one.

She had gone through the first two bookshelves when Amue spoke up, "What are you looking for?"

Amelia nearly fell off the ladder at the sound of her voice - it was so  _high!_  And so  _feminine!_  It wasn't like Strongine or her teacher at all! She looked back at Amue, "Um… the next one." She said, holding up the Golden Rose book, and she watched her face light up at the sight of it.

"Oh, I have it here!" She said, closing the one she had been holding and taking out her bookmark. Amelia came down and she exchanged the first volume for the second, "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's actually a really good story," Amelia said as she looked over the second, casually flipping through the pages. "And the relationship between Rose and Damien is… surprisingly believable."

"Isn't it just?" Amue looked down at the first book with a fond stare and a smile, "It's my favorite series. And it's still ongoing you know. I almost wish it would stop so that Rose wouldn't have to suffer, but at the same time it's such an enthralling tale."

"It kind of is." Amelia agreed, tucking the book under her arm. "How many books are there now?"

"Five, book number six is set to be published sometime next June." Amue let out a delighted giggle as she held the first book to her chest, "I'm so excited, I've already reserved three copies." She looked up at Amelia, "Oh, you  _must_  tell me when you finish the second one. It introduces a new character that you'll simply  _adore_."

"Really?" Amelia looked down at the new book, then back to Amue, "I didn't know you were such a big reader."

"It's my favorite pastime," Amue said with a smile. "Don't you enjoy it? Getting lost in the world created by words alone." She held her book to her chest with a wistful sigh, "Getting taken away to a world unlike your own. I've always loved it, ever since I was small."

"Well, I suppose you have an entire library to choose from," Amelia said as she looked at the rest of the books. "You must read a lot."

"Yes, whenever I'm not busy with other things." She said, opening the first volume and flipping through the pages.

"What else are you busy with? I didn't think any of the Armstrong women had jobs." Amelia said as she took a seat, getting comfortable as she and Amue spoke. The family was rich enough that technically none of them needed to work, the only that did was her teacher, as far as she knew.

"Mother likes to make it so that we are proper ladies." Amue said, "She makes sure that we are educated deeply in the arts, as well as etiquette, with rigorous training to prove the strength of the Armstrong line." She closed the book to put her attention on Amelia, "It can be a little tiring when you don't find something you love, but once you do, it becomes much more enjoyable."

"She makes all the girls do this?"

"Oh, no. She would never force us to do anything against our will." Amue said quickly, "We all chose to do this, just as our eldest sister decided not to do any of it." Amelia's head tilted to one side curiously.

"Eldest sister? I thought you were the oldest, you beat Strongine by two minutes, right?"

"No, our eldest sister is Olivier. She currently serves the military in Fort Briggs, up near North City." Amue explained, "She was always quite the tomboy, never one for the arts, or painting, or piano, or singing, or cooking. But she and Alex share a deep loyalty to our country, and the fierceness to fight for it. She's quite skilled in combat."

"Oh." Amelia kind of liked the sound of that. Strongine and her got along because they both found the Armstrong traditions a little ridiculous, and she wondered about Olivier, if she was anything like that, "So, what rank is she?"

"I believe she's a general."

Amelia hummed nonchalantly at first, but she felt her eyes grow wide as she realized Alex was only a  _major_ ; she outranked him, and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, and Colonel Mustang. That was the highest rank someone could be honored with. "Wait, seriously?! She's  _that_  high up?!"

Amue was a little amused at her delayed shock, "Yes, she's done an excellent job. Though I think part of that goes to her general ruthlessness. She's not the most… ladylike Armstrong." Amelia's eyes were still wide as she tried to picture what this woman looked like. She  _had_  to look like Amue and Strongine did, or at least have some serious muscle on her to rise through the military ranks like that. "But we still miss her, she brings a liveliness that we don't often see at home, whenever she does come to visit." Amue stood and put the book back in place before turning to Amelia, "Well, I won't disturb your reading." She smiled and went to another part of the library, taking a book and then leaving with it.

* * *

The next few days passed without too much incident. Amelia kept to her alchemy lessons with Armstrong and learned some combat from him. He started teaching her fighting techniques alongside the alchemy, teaching her how to box almost. It was the first time she had ever really bothered learning self-defense and she picked up on it quick enough. She was hardly an expert, and her punches didn't really do a lot without hurting her own knuckles, but she felt she was getting better as time went on.

One afternoon, their training was interrupted as one of the butlers came to tell Alex that Amelia had a visitor. "It must be Lieutenant Colonel Hughes coming to do his report." Armstrong said, "We'll take a brief respite so you can speak to him."

"Awesome." Amelia was more than glad for the break, taking a towel and some water with her to meet with the Lieutenant Colonel. She tried to dry herself off of sweat so she wasn't a complete mess in front of the man, but to her surprise, it wasn't Hughes that had come to visit.

"Hello, Amelia." Alphonse greeted her happily as she came into the parlor room where she found the suit of armor.

"Hi, Alphonse." She greeted him slowly. She looked around the room, not seeing his brother anywhere, "What, uh… What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit you." He said simply, and he held out a small book to her, "And to give you this. It helped Ed and I a lot when we were first learning alchemy." She reached out and took it, the title reading, "Alchemy for Beginners."

"Thanks, but I already have the latest edition of this book." She said, holding it out to him to take, which he didn't do.

"No, please take it. It's me and Brother's personal copy. We scribbled notes in the margins about performing transmutations. I thought it might help you learn alchemy a little faster." Alphonse said, and Amelia opened it up to see each page had little notes scribbled in here and there, words were underlined and expanded upon in different paragraphs, "We don't need it anymore, so I thought you could make better use of it."

"This is… thoughtful, Alphonse. Thank you." She closed the book and looked up at the suit of armor, "But I thought you and your brother were busy with Marcoh's research? How's that going?"

"Well, we found someone who was able to help us with getting a copy of the research notes." Alphonse informed her, "Her name is Sheska, she worked in the library and she has this amazing mind that can remember everything she's ever read. She's working on making a copy for us now."

"Oh, that's pretty lucky." Amelia said, tucking the textbook under her arm as they continued to speak, "You mind if I sit? The more time I spend with you is less time I spend training."

"Oh, sure." Alphonse took a seat on one couch and she took a seat on the one opposite him. "How is your alchemy training going, by the way?"

"It's going faster now that I understand how to transmute some things." She said, "Armstrong said I'm doing well for a beginner," She shrugged, "So I guess it's going well."

"That's good to hear," Alphonse said, sounding happy. Amelia didn't really say anything after that, she wasn't sure what to say. She and Alphonse hadn't spoken much in the time that she had traveled with him, and on the train ride back home they didn't really talk about anything other than just small talk.

"So… where's your brother?" She asked him after a long pause, wanting to keep the silence from being too awkward. "You guys are always together."

"Brother's getting some dinner right now." Alphonse said, "So I thought I'd come and see you, and check up on you since the Armstrong estate wasn't too far from where we're staying."

"Why didn't you just go with him?" She asked, wondering why he felt the need to come and see her instead of spending time with his brother that he was clearly closer to.

Alphonse's hand reached back to rub the back of his helmet awkwardly, "I don't really feel comfortable in restaurants…" He said.

"Is it because you can't eat?" Amelia asked, and Alphonse's helmet bobbed in an affirmative nod. "So, you just… don't have dinner with your brother?"

"Only when it's in a restaurant." Alphonse said, "It's just… they always expect you to order something, and I can't really do that with this body… I feel like I'm just inconveniencing them." He let out a small laugh, "But it's okay, it's all the more food for Brother, anyway. I don't think it's possible to share a table with him and  _not_  have him eat everything on it." Amelia smiled a little at the joke, but she couldn't help but think that Alphonse was just trying to make light of the bad situation so she wouldn't ask him more about it. She decided it was better to drop the subject, and perhaps end this visit since there wasn't much the two of them could talk about, anyway. She didn't want to make things too awkward by having him stay too long.

"Well, that's good, I suppose." She said, moving to stand up, "And it was nice having you visit to give me this gift. I appreciate it." Alphonse stood up shortly after he did, "I was expecting military personnel to come and interview me… but I guess you are military personnel, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're always with Ed, so you're kind of working for the military, right?" She asked, knowing he wasn't state certified like his brother, but he must have some kind of influence.

"Um… I guess so. I don't really think of it like that." He said, "Brother's the one with the certification. He has a lot more power than I do in the military. I'm really just a civilian."

"Hm," Was Amelia's nonchalant response. "Well, I hope the research thing goes well for you."

"Thank you, I hope you get good use from that book," Alphonse said, and the pair started to walk to the parlor doors, where the butler that had escorted her there was waiting to escort Alphonse out. He followed the butler, with Amelia going the opposite direction down the hall, but she paused as a thought came to mind.

"Hey, Alphonse?" The suit of armor looked back at Amelia.

"Yes?"

"When you guys… When you guys find out what the philosopher's stone is made of, can you tell me?" She asked, "I want to know if I can make one to pass the alchemy exam." And also to see if it has enough alchemical power to send her back home so she can forget this whole mess.

"Oh, sure!" Alphonse said cheerily, nodding and she turned to leave to go back to the training.

* * *

The next day, Amelia received her expected visit from Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, who smiled at her in a friendly way as they went to a parlor room to do their interview, the same one she had met Alphonse in yesterday.

"So, how's alchemy training going?" Was his first question.

"It's going well." Amelia said, "I've learned how to transmute stuff, so that's a start." She smiled a bit, "I feel like I'm getting better at it. Apparently, from this point, it's all about calculating and figuring out your materials. I'm learning to identify a lot of different elements."

"Sounds like more progress than the last time I saw you. That's good." Hughes said, writing on his notepad. "And what about Armstrong? You feel like he's a capable teacher?"

She shrugged, "He's good enough. I can't really think of anyone else willing to teach me alchemy, anyway." Hughes wrote some more on his notepad.

"Well, it seems like you and him are getting along better since you almost escaped." Amelia frowned at the words.

"I wasn't escaping, I _told_  you."

" _Right_ , just like how you weren't trespassing."

Amelia glared at him, "I know what you're implying, and I'm taking it as a personal insult." She said, crossing her arms as she sat back in her chair.

"Alright, alright, no need to get all huffy," Hughes said, still grinning a little to himself as he tried to keep the mood light. Amelia didn't respond to it. "So, traveling with the Elrics went well?"

"Yeah, it went fine." She said nonchalantly.

"No issues or anything?"

"None that I can think of."

"You didn't get into any trouble with them, or…?"

"Why are you asking so many questions about it?" She saw him shrug.

"I heard you and Edward got into plenty of fights while you were on the train." Amelia frowned.

"Yeah, because he's a stubborn asshole." Hughes let out a small huff of a laugh but said nothing as he wrote something down on his notepad again.

"So, you liked going to Resembool? I hear the country's nice this time of year."

"Sure, it was kind of weird being there." She said, "I mean… it was basically his  _house_ , and his mechanic and stuff lived there… I don't know, it felt weird being there." She shifted a little in her seat, remembering how close they all were, how that house was so warm and inviting, but she hated that she was never a part of that warmth. She felt out of place, and it didn't help that being around a family reminded her of her own, which didn't help anything at all.

"You want to elaborate on that weird feeling?" Hughes asked.

"No."

He raised his eyebrows at her curt response but wrote something down anyway. "Okay, then. And once you guys got Ed's arm fixed up, you guys separated at Central station and he went on to East City?"

"No, he got off with us." She said, watching as his eyes shot up from his notepad at her words, "He got a lead on the philosopher's stone, so we left him at the library."

"He's in town? Do you know if he's going to be here for long?" Amelia shrugged again.

"I don't know, they were talking about finding some research notes and figuring that out. I don't know how long it'll take them."

"I'll need to look them up." Hughes grinned as he wrote something down again, "That little… I told him to give me a shout the next time he came to Central." He shook his head with a good-natured smile. He looked up at her, "So, you think everything's coming along well so far? No hiccups or anything to stop your alchemy training?"

"I think so." She said, "I mean, Teacher's sisters seem to like hanging out with me, and I don't really mind it. But that's only when the big guy's out of here and at the office or something."

"And there's someone watching you while he's gone, of course?" Hughes asked.

" _Yes_ , and it's getting annoying to have someone shadow me all around the house. Even to the damned bathroom!" She whined, "Seriously, can't I have a  _little_  trust from the military and be without a babysitter for a while?"

"Nope, sorry," Hughes said, though he didn't really seem all that sorry at all. He smiled and stood up, "Well, I think that's all I need for now."

"Always such a short interview," Amelia pushed herself up from her seat and stood. "Whatever, I guess I can go back to training and junk." She stretched out her limbs a little, and Hughes noticed something interesting right away.

"Looks like you're getting fit." He commented, and Amelia looked over at him oddly.

"What?"

"You look like you've lost a little weight." He said, standing up, "Are you taking part in any physical activities?"

"Yeah, the training regimen." Amelia said, "Oh, and he said he wants to teach me how to box so I know how to fight. We've been working on that a little." She reached her hands down to her stomach, had she really lost weight? She hadn't really thought about it that much, but when she'd been exercising for almost two weeks straight, going on three… well, it would make sense that she would lose at least a little bit of fat off her figure. The thought made her smile a bit, maybe there could be something good out of the torture of exercising with the super fit family after all.

"Come on, let's get you back to the Major." He tucked his notepad under his arm and he led her down the halls, "I trust he's keeping good surveillance on you."

Amelia rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Yes, he is. I'm not allowed to go to a different room without someone watching me. Except for my room, I'm allowed to have privacy  _there_ , at least." Hughes let out a small, interested hum, but didn't pursue the subject further.

"So, I take it from here on out, it's just making sure you're trained in alchemy proper, is that right?" He asked.

"Yep," She looked over, seeing him smiling.

"Well, then maybe you can make some plans later in the month!" He said cheerily, and Amelia suddenly felt wary.

"Uh… what plans?" She asked, and her answer was a handful of pictures shoved in her face of the same girl he had given before.

"My cute little Elicia is turning three in less than a week!" He said, "I'm sure she'd love to have some extra presents for her birthday!" Amelia tried to look around the pictures of his daughter in little sundresses and jumpers.

"I'll think about getting her something." She said, if only in the hopes of getting him to put the pictures away.

He didn't, though. He continued to gush about how cute she was, and how the present Amelia would get her would have to be as cute as she was. Like a big teddy bear, or a bunny rabbit, or a cute doll. She was just quiet and listened to him go on, though she did pick up the pace a little faster so she could get back to the training area that Major Armstrong had put aside for her. Last she remembered, he had been setting up a couple sandbags for her to practice punching with.

He had just finished by the time they had arrived, and greeted them with his usual enthusiasm, "Good to see you, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes! I trust the interview went well?"

"About as well as to be expected," Hughes replied, calming down from his gushing to speak to his colleague, much to Amelia's relief. She felt like she was listening to her teacher as he went on some rant about his muscles… "That's some good equipment."

"The Armstrong family always has the best equipment for a prime physical figure." The Major said proudly, and she could swear the man _sparkled_  in his pride, "Amelia, go ahead and get started with your training, I want you to get started with the large sandbag there."

"Okay, do you want me to wrap up my hands first?" She asked, and the Major nodded.

"Please do. I don't to see your hands getting hurt." She went over to where the hand wrap was, starting to move it around her knuckles like the Major had taught her, leaving Hughes and Armstrong to speak to one another privately, keeping their voices low. "Are there any results on the search for her companion?"

"None. We've gone ahead and ruled it a false report." Hughes said, "She hasn't asked about her at all since I've started these interviews. She wouldn't create a face like that if she cared enough."

"So, the blame for trespassing rests entirely on her, then…" Armstrong said, glancing over at his student as she finished up her wrapping and started to get to work on the sandbag. If another person had been involved, it would have created reasonable doubt and might have let Amelia have a lighter sentence, should she be placed before a judge. But without any evidence of this other person, she would likely receive the full punishment. Hughes looked at him critically.

"Major, I feel that I need to remind you that Amelia  _is_  a convicted felon, not just your student." He said, "I know that children and women are a… a soft spot for you." He was aware that, once, Armstrong's guilt in Ishval had gotten the better of him and he tried to help a family escape. Kimblee had seen it and taken them out before they had a chance to get very far, but Hughes had seen it happen through a pair of binoculars, and he hadn't reported it to the higher-ups, but he made sure to speak to him once he had a chance. "I don't want to remind you that you have a duty as her teacher,  _and_ as her guard. You can't let her escape."

"Of course not."

"She said she gets a room to herself with total privacy? Is it secure?"

"She doesn't know that we inspect it when she leaves." Armstrong assured him, "And I've sealed the windows alchemically with materials different from what she's able to see from inside. Any attempt to change it would be difficult to do without knowing the materials, but we've seen no sign that she's tried to use alchemy to escape. No transmutation circles or anything like that."

Hughes looked over at Amelia as she started to punch at the sandbag, keeping a proper boxing form like he had seen with Armstrong in battle. "You're sure? After the incident at the Tucker house…"

"She's under almost constant surveillance," He assured his friend again, "We're keeping an eye on her, but I still want her to trust us enough so that she can feel comfortable. It would be pointless to teach her if she can't focus on her alchemy."

Hughes was quiet as if he was unsure, but he sighed and nodded, "Alright, you sound like you know what you're doing. I'll head back to Headquarters. Do you happen to know where the Elrics are staying, by any chance?"

"I believe they're staying in the hotel off the main square." Armstrong bid his friend goodbye before going back to his student, "Come, you can hit it harder than that! Don't be afraid to feel the pain of the throwback!" He encouraged her, leading her in her training to hit harder, and faster. She did as he instructed, and she was glad that she ended up wrapping her knuckles since it kind of hurt to hit something so heavy so hard.

When they got to the end of it, she let out a small sigh and relaxed as she unwrapped her hands, seeing her knuckles were red, feeling her pulse through her fingers. "Man, that kills a little…" She muttered to herself as she tried to shake it off. She looked up as a water bottle was put in front of her, reaching up to take it and gulping down the cool liquid inside. "How long did you have to do this before it stopped hurting?"

"It never completely stops." Armstrong said, "But it did lessen the more I trained. It is now nothing more than an annoying, dull ache for me." He took a seat at an outdoor table, "So, shall we go over yesterday's lesson before we move on to today's?"

"Whatever," Amelia said with a shrug, taking the seat next to him as she wiped off the sweat from her forehead. Her arms hurt, too. She was going to be in a  _lot_  of pain come tomorrow. "Where did we leave off?"

"On calculating the quantity of alchemical structures and conversion rates," Armstrong said, and Amelia nodded.

"Right, you're supposed to calculate the weight of the element you want to convert it to before you take what materials you have," She said, "And then…" She paused, remembering something like this in the book that Alphonse had given to her, "And then it's a matter of understanding how much weight that is in comparison to what you have. On the spot calculations can be difficult, so it's better to calculate for slightly less than what you have in your assumption, just in case… right?" Armstrong's eyes widened and he nodded.

"Yes, that's right. I didn't think we had gotten there."

"Well, we didn't, but I read it in the book that Alphonse gave me, so I thought-"

"Alphonse Elric?" She paused when she looked up at her teacher.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you? He gave me an old book that he and his brother used when they first studied alchemy."

"When was this?" He asked, clearly unaware of that.

"When he came to visit me a couple days ago," She said, unsure if she told him, "I thought I told you?"

"You didn't! I wasn't aware he had come to visit you, that's very kind of him." He smiled, "We must remember to thank him when we get the chance." He beamed at his student, "And give him an appropriate gift in return."

"Wait, really?" She asked, "But that seems kind of… unnecessary. I already said thank you to him in person."

"But this book has clearly been of help, we should give him a gift of equal value!" He insisted, and Amelia stopped fighting him, knowing she probably wouldn't win in an argument without him taking off his shirt and using his muscles as a reason to do the 'right thing' in his eyes.

"Okay,  _fine_ , we'll get him a gift. Can we get back to work?" She said, and so they went back to their lessons, with Amelia learning more about transmutations, starting to create alchemical statues, but none of it was exactly perfect… most of them just kind of looked like weird lumps of dirt that were supposed to be a shape that they weren't. Armstrong assured her that this was normal and would take practice, but she still felt that she could do better, and continued to practice until she started to feel dizzy and couldn't really do much else other than rest. She was taken back to her room to rest, and she ended up napping until someone brought her dinner because she slept through it.

* * *

The next day, they went out shopping for a present, and it was a little tricky as Alphonse was a suit of armor, so getting him something like a scarf to keep warm, or flowers that smell nice was kind of pointless. She had to actually think about her gift to him, and she remembered how he said that his body didn't really allow him to sleep back when she had been at the Rockbell house. Maybe he could use something to occupy his time during the night? She ended up getting him a book that was popular in the bookstore. It was some adventure novel, but she figured it was good enough for Alphonse.

They headed to the hotel where the Elrics were staying, with the receptionist asking them to sign in before he informed the brothers they had guests. Instead of being given permission to go up, they were told to stay in the lobby and Ross and Brosh came down to meet them, saluting the Major as they saw him.

"Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh, as you were." He greeted them as he saluted in turn, "Have you come to escort us to the Elrics room?"

"Actually, the Elric brothers aren't seeing guests currently." Ross said, "Their research has been… arduous and they just want to rest. They don't want to see guests, they just don't have the energy."

"Oh, well. What a shame." Amelia said, glad to not have to go through the awkward process of giving a thank-you gift. "Let's go home." She had barely taken a step before the Major pulled her back by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"That can't be good for them to stay in their rooms all night. What about their dinner?" He asked.

"We've been taking their food to their rooms." Brosh assured his superior, "They're fine, they're just tired is all. Marcoh's research is encrypted, and they've been working at it for the last few days to crack it."

"I see. Then we will come back when we next get the chance." The Major said.

"Well, I could just give you this, then." Amelia said, holding out the book, "It's for Alphonse, to thank him for giving me his old alchemy book." Ross was about to take it when Armstrong took it from her hands.

"You will give it to him  _in person_."

"Oh,  _come on!_ " Amelia scowled up at him, "He's tired! Can't I just leave it here? They can tell him it's from me!"

"There are manners to be had in situations like this," Armstrong said, handing it back to Amelia, who pouted grumpily in a manner not unlike that of a child. "You will give it to him in person when we return tomorrow."

"God, fine…" She muttered, holding onto the book as she and the Major walked out of the hotel to go back to the estate.

As Armstrong and his student left, Brosh and Ross shared a nervous look. They were going to come back? Would they believe that same excuse they had just given them every time?

* * *

This went on for a few days, Amelia would have the usual routine of training with Armstrong, learning alchemy, and spending time with his sisters when he went to work at headquarters. When he returned, they would go to the hotel to see the Elrics, only to hear they were too tired to see guests from all their researching. By the fourth day, it was starting to get a little old.

"What's this now? The Elric brothers are holed up in their room  _again_  tonight?" Armstrong asked, growing a little irritated.

"Yes, and they haven't been eating, either…" Ross said, sounding worried.

Armstrong hummed, putting his hand to his heavy jaw thoughtfully, "The fatigue must be catching up to them. They seem to have devoted all their energy to these notes…" Amelia noticed how Ross and Brosh shared a glance before turning away to whisper to each other. She carefully stepped a little closer to listen while her teacher tried to think of options to help get the Elric's energies back up.

"They worked so hard to decipher those notes, only to find out  _that_ …" Ross said.

"It disturbs me, too, just thinking about it. I bet I'd act the same way." Brosh agreed.

"What did they find out?" Amelia asked, letting them know she'd heard them, and the pair jumped away from her. "Did they figure out how to make a philosopher's stone?"

"Oh, uh, n-no, no!" Ross said quickly, "Not yet, they're still working on it…!"

"But you just said they figured something out, what was it?" She asked, knowing that the brothers had been researching the philosopher's stone exclusively. The pair of soldiers looked around, trying to find anything to work as a distraction or an excuse. Apparently, they hadn't expected someone to overhear, even though Armstrong and Amelia were less than three feet away.

"Well… um…" Brosh stuttered nervously, neither of them able to look at Amelia or the Major.

Armstrong stepped forward to approach them, "Your behavior is  _most_  suspicious!" The two cowered a little under their boss, who towered over them easily. "Perhaps you should tell us what the Elric brothers have found?"

"We can't really say…" Ross said.

Armstrong let out a hum as he stood up straight, "Then let me convince you of the right choice in this matter!" Amelia knew that proudly triumphant tone of voice too well, and she turned her head away as her teacher threw off his shirt to expose his muscles, "LOOK AT THE BEAUTY OF THESE MUSCLES!" He grabbed his subordinates, who wailed at being caught in the embrace next to his naked torso, "FEEL HOW THEY PULSE WITH STRENGTH AND INTEGRITY! THIS METHOD OF SHOWING THE GREAT DISCIPLINE AND VIRTUE OF A TRULY LOYAL SOLDIER HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!" As he was saying this, the two of them were pressed up against his chest, which he was flexing as well as the muscles in his biceps and triceps as he held the pair of them against his body. Amelia didn't envy them, and felt sorry they had to feel that kind of embrace from Major Armstrong, "DO YOU NOT THINK THAT THIS IS THE SIGN OF A MAN YOU CAN TRUST? CAN YOU FEEL THE POWER OF THE LOYALTY AND DISCIPLINE THAT COMES FROM THE STRENGTH OF THIS FORM?"

" _Stop!_  Stop, we'll tell you!" Brosh wailed and Armstrong released them, reaching to pick up his shirt again, dressing himself once more as the pair of soldiers moved over into a hallway so they could speak privately.

"The Elric brothers did figure out the ingredients to create a complete Philosopher's Stone," Ross began quietly, "They found out that the main ingredient was human lives."

" _What?_ " Armstrong let out a quiet, yet horrified gasp. Amelia's eyes went wide as well at the news.

"What you mean, like… actual  _live_  people?" Amelia asked, and Ross nodded, her face pale. Sergeant Brosh's was the same way, the two sharing the same expression.

"We didn't believe it at first, but that's what we understand to be the truth," Brosh said grimly. "The Elrics haven't taken the news well, they've just been kind of… sulking. They've hardly come out of their room."

"I see." Armstrong said, "It is…  _horrible_  to know the news of this research, and that the military allowed it as well…"

"Maybe they were looking for an alternative way to make a philosopher's stone?" Amelia offered, "I mean, Marcoh had an incomplete one, but it seemed like it worked for those people…"

"Wait, you met Doctor Marcoh?" Ross asked, and Amelia jumped a little, forgetting that Marcoh was technically supposed to be MIA so the military wouldn't find him.

"Um…" She didn't get a chance to make an excuse.

"I'll speak to the Elric brothers right away. Take me to their room." Armstrong commanded his subordinates, who led the way up the stairs to the room where Edward and Alphonse were staying.

Armstrong pounded his fist on the door, wanting to make sure they heard him knocking, calling for them through the wood, "Elric brothers, I know you're in there! Open up! This is the Major!" In between the pounding knocks, Amelia could hear the brothers behind the door.

"What do we do?" Alphonse sounded worried.

"We ignore him, that's what," Edward replied. At hearing this, the Major decided to force his way in, his hand going to the door handle and, upon finding the door was locked,  _pushed the handle through the door_  to break it open and barge his way in. Amelia was a little frightened to know he was willing to do that, the hotel would probably ask him to give some money to repair that door…

"I know what it said, Edward Elric!" He declared once the door was open, meeting the horrified screams of the brothers who were either screaming because he  _just broke the door_  to talk to them, or screaming because he knew why they had been in their room to begin with.

"HOW TRAGIC!" He started to cry now that the shock from the news had gone, "TO THINK THE LEGEND OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE IS BUILT ON SUCH A TERRIBLE SECRET!"

Edward looked behind the Major to see Amelia with a book in her arms, and Sergeant Brosh and Lieutenant Ross looking sheepish and ashamed. He glared at them, knowing they would have been the only people who could have told the Major.

"We're- We're really sorry," Ross said.

"It's hard to keep quiet when someone like  _him_  asks you…!" Brosh said, looking over at the Major, who was still showing his emotions as tears flowed down his chiseled cheeks.

"Imagine the military being behind something like that!" Armstrong continued, "Often the truth is more cruel than we bargained for…!" Edward looked about ready to tell the Major to take a hike (though with much more vulgar language intended) but he stopped at the word "truth," remembering Marcoh's words.

"The truth…!" He gasped, drawing everyone's attention.

"What is it, Brother?" Alphonse asked.

"Do you remember what Doctor Marcoh said at the station?" Edward asked, and Alphonse took a second to think.

"Wasn't it something like… 'Find the truth hidden within the truth'?" Amelia asked, remembering the odd phrase that Marcoh had said.

"Yes, exactly." Edward said, a small smirk growing on his face as his mind started to work, "I didn't have a clue what he was talking about then, but now… it's the same as with alchemical notes. What you can see on the surface is only a portion of the truth." He lifted his head, a determined gleam in his golden eyes, "There's still more to find here. There  _has_  to be." He turned to the Major, "Do you think we can get a map of places we can look at? A place that would be performing alchemical research with connections to the government."

"I'll see what I can find." The Major said, turning to his subordinates he asked, "Lieutenant Ross, see what you can find in terms of government-sponsored laboratories from the office. I'll find a map with their locations on it. Sergeant Brosh, please keep watch on Amelia while I'm gone."

"Sir!" They both saluted him as he left the hotel room, leaving Amelia with Brosh as Ross left with the Major.

"More babysitters…" She muttered unhappily, glancing over at Edward. Their room was dark, save for the light coming through the open (broken) door and the windows. She could see his automail arm on full display, and she couldn't help staring at it a little. She looked at how it was connected to his shoulder, seeing all the different screws and metal layers that topped each other. It looked almost pristine, and she could see the hard work that had been put into it, she had no doubt that Winry had put everything she had into making an arm that looked so… solid and sturdy, at least in Amelia's eyes. Ed noticed her staring and she looked away. She felt her cheeks turning a little red, ashamed that she had been caught doing something so rude. Still, she had rarely seen anyone without an arm, and to see his prosthetic arm so exposed like this was a little shocking to her. "Uh, sorry." She quickly apologized.

"Whatever," Edward shrugged it off like it was no big deal and walked out of the room. Alphonse went to turn on the light before he looked at the door and sighed.

"They're going to be really mad when they see the damage that was done…" He said, trying to right the door that had been knocked off its hinges.

"I'm pretty sure the Major can pay for it," Amelia said, watching as the armored boy went to right it, setting everything back in place. "I'm sure he'll feel guilty about it when we leave. He's not one to leave a mess without cleaning it up."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Alphonse said. The sound of a closing door drew Amelia's attention, and she saw Edward coming out of the room he had left to a moment ago, now wearing his leather jacket and gloves. He met her gaze, but looked away as quickly as he had looked towards her. He had covered up his prosthetic arm, Amelia wondered if she made him feel a little self-conscious about it because she had stared at it, she felt like apologizing again, but Edward left to another room.

"I'll get you something to drink." He said, going into what looked like a kitchen, starting to make tea.

"Um, you don't really have to. It's fine." Amelia called after him, but Edward didn't seem to hear her. She looked back at Alphonse, who had seen the whole exchange, "I didn't make him feel bad about his arm, did I?"

"No, Brother's just making sure he looks presentable," Alphonse assured her, though she didn't really feel any better.

It was only a moment later that the Major returned with a map, and Ross with her information on the buildings. Edward came out from the kitchen, taking a seat on the couch, and the Major took a seat in the one across from him. Alphonse stood behind his brother, and Brosh and Ross stood to the other side of the Major. Amelia took a seat on the armrest of the couch where her teacher sat, still holding the book for Alphonse to her chest as Armstrong spread out the map of Central city. "Currently there are four operational alchemy laboratories in Central that have connections to the government." He pointed out their locations that he had marked on the map, "We can narrow it down even further. Marcoh worked in the Third Laboratory. We should start with that one, it's the most suspect." He said, pointing to the exact laboratory he was talking about.

"Hmm…" Edward rested his chin on his hand as he looked over the map, "Al and I have been to all the laboratories in the city. None were doing any remarkable research…" He paused and he pointed to a building that read "Fifth Laboratory (CLOSED)" and was marked out with a red X. "Here. What's this building used for?"

"It was designed for the Fifth Laboratory," Ross said, reading from a small booklet that contained descriptions of what Amelia assumed was the labs in Central. "But it isn't currently in use. The building isn't structurally sound, so it's been classified off-limits."

"It's there," Edward said confidently.

"Huh? How can you be so sure that's it?" Brosh asked, looking over Edward's shoulder to get a closer look at the map.

"There's a prison right next door," Edward said, pointing it out.

"Okay, so?" Brosh said, still confused.

"What was the main ingredient for a Philosopher's Stone?" Edward asked him.

Brosh stood up as he started to think, "You said it needed live humans-!" As he said that, the answer seemed to strike him like lightning and sent a disgusted chill down his spine. "Ugh…"

"There'd be plenty of condemned criminals in the prison," Edward said, "Officially, they'd be recorded as executed." Amelia frowned a little at the news.

"Well… I guess if you wanted a steady supply of humans, a prison would be a good place to get it…" She said. Though, remembering she herself was technically a prisoner, the thought didn't sit well with her. She had the potential to become part of a Philosopher's Stone without having done anything else.

"They're using the prisoners to make the stone…" Ross said, her face ashen, looking like she was going to be sick.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't like talking about this any more than you!" Edward said quickly.

"Prisons from other jurisdictions could be used, too," Alphonse said, "I wonder if the government is involved?"

Brosh and Ross both looked terribly anxious, like a heavy weight had been deposited on their shoulders, "Why do I have the feeling that we're getting involved in something really dangerous here...?" Ross asked.

"That's why we told you to pretend like you'd never heard anything!" Alphonse scolded them. The Major had been silent through hearing these theories, and he reached down to pick up the map and roll it up.

"This has the potential to become a political nightmare before long." He said, standing up with the map, and Amelia stood up as well. "I'll look into what we've talked about tonight." He turned to Brosh and Ross, "In the meantime, Officers, speak of this to no one!"

"Sir!" They saluted him as they agreed to his order.

Armstrong looked back at the Elrics on the couch, "And you, Elric brothers, behave yourselves!"

The two looked at him in shock, as if they didn't understand where that order was coming from, but Armstrong didn't seem to buy their false surprise. "Hrmmm?! Don't act so surprised! I know you two boys, you were thinking about sneaking into this building and taking a look around, weren't you?!  _Admit it!_ "

"We weren't, we weren't, we promise!" The two brothers said together frantically. The Major glared them down, and they stayed where they were, but eventually, he seemed satisfied.

"I should hope you weren't." He said, he turned to his student, "We should return home, Amelia. Too much has happened here in this moment, and I think we need to return to the estate. I'll begin investigations tomorrow morning."

"Alright," She said, and was about to step towards him to follow him out, when she looked down at the book in her hands, "Oh, right." She turned back around and held out the book to Alphonse, "Here, this is for you."

Alphonse looked down at the book silently before taking it, "For me?"

"Yeah, it's um… to thank you for giving me your old alchemy book." She said, her cheeks turning a little red, feeling embarrassed that she had almost forgotten to give it to him, and that she had to give him a thank-you gift to begin with. Part of it did seem a bit silly to her, "I haven't read it, but it's supposed to be a good story, it's pretty popular in bookstores." She looked down shyly, "I thought… maybe you could read it at night, since you said you don't really sleep. I figured you could use something to do."

"Oh…!" Alphonse let out a happy gasp as he looked at the book, realizing what it was for, "Thank you, Amelia! This is really thoughtful of you." He said, beaming. Amelia got flustered at his sincere gratitude, not really used to seeing it.

"Yeah, well… I-I hope you like it." She said, and turned around to get to the Major's side, following her teacher out into the hallway as they left to return to the estate.

After they left, Alphonse looked down at the book happily. He had read every book that he and Edward had available to them, so having another one to read was something that helped make it easier to spend his nights alone in silence. He felt so glad to know that Amelia had been so thoughtful in picking out a present for him. Edward, who had watched the whole exchange, had been surprised by Amelia's reaction to his brother. He wouldn't have thought that a girl who had been so straightforward and bratty could also be so shy about giving a present. A part of him almost found it cute, before he remembered how many 'short' jabs she had thrown at him when they had been traveling and he brushed it aside.

In the hallway, Amelia followed her teacher down the stairs, glancing over at the rolled-up map in his hands, "This is some heavy stuff." She commented idly.

"Indeed, I'll need to research the laboratory for any sign that this kind of experimentation took place." He said. "It hasn't been used for years, there might still be some sign of what happened in that place."

"I guess so," Amelia said, walking out with him to the lobby. It was strange to know the main ingredient for a Philosopher's Stone was human people, and while they were alive no less. She wondered why they had to be alive instead of just their bodies? But the more she thought about it, the more she realized it probably had to do with the human soul as an energy source. It was a scary thought to think that a human soul could be used for energy, but at the same time, it seemed… efficient. It was a power source that lasted for decades in a human body, someone must have attempted to use it as a power source when the idea of the Philosopher's Stone first came to be. She wondered if she might still be able to use it to get home… She glanced at the map in the Major's hands again.

There was the possibility that, in the evidence left behind, one of them might be a Philosopher's Stone. But he said it hadn't been used for years, but if she had come across one that she could use… If she could find some tiny morsel of a stone left over from the experiments, it might be just enough to get her home. She doubted the Major would let her see the map again, and when they returned to the estate, he escorted her back to her room. She could only assume he was planning on keeping the map with him for the rest of the night. She glanced at the clock, noting the time. When it was late enough, she decided she would go and steal the map from Armstrong's room in the hopes of going to the Fifth Lab and finding a Philosopher's Stone to get her home.


	13. Trust

_Sometimes life gives you a second chance, or even two!_

_Not always, but sometimes._

_It's what you do with those second chances that counts._

**_-Dave Wilson_ **

* * *

Amelia was escorted back to the estate with the Major, and also escorted to her room. She stayed in there, keeping the light off as she waited in the darkness, her eyes focused mainly on the clock on the wall. She checked the time, watching slowly from her window as other lights were doused from their shadows on the grass through their windows. She waited a few hours, and she rubbed at her eyes, growing more tired with every hour, but if she was going to do this, she had to be patient. She had to be  _sure_  that no one else would be awake.

Finally, the old clock in her room let out a soft chime as it struck 2 AM. She tiptoed to the door of her bedroom and listened through the crack. She couldn't hear anything, and she slowly opened the door to peek out into the hallway. It was almost completely pitch black, but her eyes adjusted to the dark and she was able to make out a few things here and there. Her heart pounded in her chest as she stepped out of her room, making her way down the hall as quietly as possible, her hands moving along the wallpaper and feeling for the wooden doors of each room. She couldn't see them, but she knew that her teacher's room was down the hall, past the left-turning corner, and three doors down from that on her left.

She walked carefully, hearing nothing but silence ringing in her ears with each step. She was only in socks to keep her steps quiet, knowing her shoes would have been heard, though she was still walking on just carpet. She slowly rounded the corner, and paused at the sight of a window. She could see the moonlight pouring through it, letting her see the other doors there, as well as the small, decorative tables that held elegant vases filled with beautifully extravagant bouquets. She could see all of it, as well as the door that led to Alex's room. She glanced down the hallway, listening for a minute or two, holding her breath as she waited for any sign that someone else was nearby that could see her. She tried to steady her breathing so her heart would calm down, but it was still too excited to try.

When she was confident that there was no one else, she stepped into the moonlight from the window and quietly made her way around the furniture to Alex's room, reaching for the handle and slowly opening it. When she heard the hinges creak, she froze and waited. Inside, she could hear the Major's snoring, and she waited for any sign that she had interrupted his sleep, but none came and she let out an internal sigh of relief before opening the door a little faster, so the creaks in the hinges wouldn't be noticed before she closed it. She took a moment to adjust her eyes to the room that Major Armstrong had. She hadn't been in here before, but she was somewhat glad he slept with his curtains open since it made it that much easier to see. Part of her wondered why he did, but it was probably so he could "Rise with the sun as any great Armstrong!" or something like that.

She looked around the room, not seeing the map anywhere in any specific location. However, she did see his dresser, a wardrobe, and he had two separate nightstands, all with drawers big enough to store it. She didn't see it resting on any table, so it looked like she'd have to search for it. She looked over at her sleeping teacher, who was still snoring away in dreamland, his back perfectly straight with blankets up to his chest, though his arms rested outside the blanket. She tried not to pay him much mind, though she always listened for his snoring as she went to the wardrobe first. She opened up the doors for the cabinet, seeing some jackets hanging up, some were uniform, some weren't. Looking down at the bottom, she could see some expertly shined shoes and boots. But nothing that looked like the map. She closed the doors and went through the drawers, only to find more military uniforms with some collared shirts and tasteful slacks.

When she finished with the wardrobe, she tiptoed to the dresser, making sure that her shadow didn't move over her teacher's sleeping face as she crept in front of the window. A peek outside and she couldn't see anyone out in the courtyard that the window faced. And no other lights were on either. Good.

She went to the dresser, her hands moving over the top of it, finding no map. She opened up the drawers to find some pajamas, some more casual shirts, socks and underwear, the usual stuff. She paused when she saw something in the back corner and reached for it, finding it was a wig stuffed into a hairnet. It was a long, flowing wig not unlike the hair of his father. She glanced back at her snoring teacher, wondering just what on earth he had a wig for, but she figured it was a question better left unanswered and put it back. Still, the mental image of Armstrong sharing his father's long hair haunted her.

When the dresser gave her nothing, she stood up and made her way over to his desk, looking over the surface, careful not to mess with the inkwells he had or the feather quills - he apparently liked to write in style - she found a few letters with names of people she didn't know on them and left them alone. No map still.

She jumped when she heard a grunt and froze, looking over at her teacher as he stopped snoring, and for a few brief seconds, she feared for her life, only for him to start again as normal. She slumped her shoulders in relief before looking around the room - the only place left for him to put it was in the nightstands by his bed. She had been hoping he wouldn't have done that since it would mean getting close to where he was, and if he woke up she would definitely be caught. She wasn't sure what kind of punishment she could see if she was caught sneaking around in his room. They might just void her deal and throw her in jail to serve out her sentence for trespassing, and for breaking and entering on top of it. She didn't want to think about it, and she was as quiet as possible as she slowly made her way over to the nightstand to slowly open the drawer.

She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the gentle chiming of a wall clock just above it, signaling that it was now 3 AM, and she had been searching for an hour. She ducked down at the noise, hiding at the side of the bed, but Armstrong made no sign that he was waking up. She waited a minute more before she stood up again and opened the drawer, seeing that it had some letters here, some photos there, a letter opener, some cologne, some hair curlers- wait, what? She picked up one of them curiously, looking over at her teacher, and she had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing when she realized he was already wearing one. He curled that  _tiny_  bit of hair on his head every  _night_! She felt her shoulders shake as she tried to hold her voice back, but she put the curler back and left it be. Okay, so this nightstand didn't have the map, that meant the only one left was the other one on the other side.

She moved around the bed, but stopped when she heard his snoring stop with a grunt, and she dropped to the floor to hide from his sight. She grew nervous when the snoring didn't start again, but she couldn't really hear any movement like him getting out of bed. She waited tensely for a minute, then another minute, and she wondered if he just… stopped snoring. She peeked around the corner of the bed. She didn't see him getting up, but she did see his hand hanging off the side of the bed. It wasn't moving, either. Did he just move in bed? She slowly lifted her head, seeing that he was still asleep, though in a slightly less dignified position than the stiff-straight board position he'd had before. She slowly got back on her feet and went over to the other nightstand. She glanced at him, noticing he had a furrowed brow and his teeth were clenched. She could hear him grinding them and she felt a disgusted shiver go down her spine at the sound. It sounded so painful! She looked at him, noticing how his body was tense, and she guessed he was having a nightmare of some kind.

She looked back at the other nightstand, starting to slowly open the drawer, but she heard something clattering inside it and she hissed out a curse as she reached in to grab the little round object that was making the noise. She jumped when a hand suddenly shot up from the bed and she felt all the blood leave her face as she looked at the wide knuckles that held a grasp on her arm. This was it. She was going to jail for the rest of her life. She would never see sunlight again. She was frozen in fear, unable to look at anything other than her teacher's hand as it held to her forearm tightly, but not enough to hurt. She stared at it, and then up at him, expecting to see him scowling or frowning in disappointment, or maybe even angry, but it was nothing like that. His eyes didn't really… look at her. They were unfocused, half-lidded, but his expression was like he was in pain. She stood still as she looked at him, wondering if, by some luck, he was asleep still?

"I'm… sorry." He said in a slurred, almost whispering voice, "I couldn't save you…I couldn't get you out…"

Oh, thank god. He was talking in his sleep, he was still dreaming. She felt immense relief flooding through her, but she wasn't sure how to respond. Who had he been trying to save? Or get out? Of where? She had so many questions, but she wasn't sure how to really respond. She reached for his hand on her arm, gently moving her hand over his knuckles. She said the only thing she thought would fit for him, "It's okay…" She whispered soothingly, "It's okay, you can rest now…" And he almost looked like he was about to cry for a moment, but he slowly relaxed, his hand slipping away from her arm. Amelia was frozen as she looked at him as he lay there, his arm hanging off the side of the bed again, the other one loosely gripping at the blankets. She almost jumped out of her skin when he started snoring again, but it was a sign that he was sleeping like normal again. She relaxed for a moment before she looked back at the nightstand.

She still held the little noisy object that had kept her from opening the drawer quietly, and as she looked at it, it was another cologne bottle. She still held onto it as she opened the drawer the rest of the way, finding a book she couldn't read in the dim light of the room, some watches and cufflinks that had been neatly organized in a velvet holder, and a hand-held mirror. But still no map. Her brow furrowed and she glanced at her teacher's sleeping form. If he wouldn't put it away in a drawer, where would he have put it? She tried to think of it as she slowly put the cologne bottle back in the drawer, closing it as slowly as possible to keep it from rolling around and making noise.

She looked around his room once it was shut.  _If I were Alex Louis Armstrong of the Armstrong family, where would I put a map?_  She thought to herself, trying to think.  _I would put it somewhere I would know to find it, somewhere I could reach it, but some place that wouldn't be easy for someone else to figure out…_  She looked towards the wardrobe, and she tilted her head slightly, seeing something at the top of it.  _Like someplace_ _only_   _I could reach because of my massively unnatural seven-foot height._  She went over to the wardrobe, getting up on her tiptoes to reach for the little corner of the paper, but she wasn't tall enough. She looked around the room for something she could use as a booster. There wasn't really a convenient table or chair that she could pick up. But there was some in the hallway. She went to the door, opening it quickly and holding the handle to make sure it didn't slam into the wall and make unnecessary noise.

She went to one of the tables that held the elegant vase with the extravagant bouquet and carefully took the vase off and onto the floor. It took some effort to pick up the table that was as wide around as she could reach, but she managed. It was a lot heavier than she thought it would be, but she still managed to carry it into her teacher's bedroom, still hearing him snoring away in his dreams. She closed the door behind her and moved the table to the side of the wardrobe. The surface of it was slick and polished, so as a safety precaution, she took off her socks before she climbed up on it. She slowly stood, smiling when she was able to stand just a head over the wardrobe with the table, and see the map resting at the top of it. She slowly slid the piece of paper off and started to carefully fold it up so it could fit in her pocket before she climbed down.

She picked up the table, planning on putting it back in place so no one would notice it was gone and went to the door. She opened it but froze when she saw two familiar faces on the other side.

"Good evening, Miss Seymour." The twins said in hushed voices that she found far too creepy for her liking.

"Um… hi." She whispered awkwardly. The twins' expressions were hard, and she knew she was in trouble. "Just… let me put the table back, at least."

"What were you doing in here?" Delilah (or Dianna?) asked her in a quiet voice, ushering her out of the room and motioning to leave the table behind.

"You are not to leave your room after bedtime, Miss Seymour." Dianna (or Delilah) said.

"I was… looking for something." Amelia said sheepishly. Her hand felt the map in her back pocket, as it if was burning a hole through the fabric. If she admitted to what she was doing, they would take it away from her. She technically was trying to make an escape attempt… Still, if she said it was to go the fifth lab instead of out of the country, would that be better or worse for her? She imagined she would still be in trouble regardless. She looked up to see the twin maids tilting their heads in opposite directions, obviously wanting to know what she had been looking for. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the map she had taken, and Dianna took it from her, unfolding it to see what it was.

"We will report this to Master Alex in the morning." She said, "You will be locked in your room for the remainder of that time until he has decided on the appropriate punishment." Amelia looked down at the floor, feeling guilty since they had caught her. The two maids took her by one elbow each and walked her back to her room before letting her go inside alone. She heard them closing the door, and hearing a lock slide in place, followed by another one. She jumped when she saw sparks and looked back to recognize the light of a transmutic reaction. Were Delilah and Dianna alchemists? She'd had no idea… Still, now she was sealed in with alchemy, and there was no way she was going to get out of her room now.

She went over to her bed, the scenarios of what awaited her coming to mind. Alex was a no-nonsense kind of guy, valuing integrity, virtue, loyalty, all that good stuff. He would probably report it to his superiors right away… She could already picture Lieutenant Colonel Hughes coming into her room the next morning with a pair of guards and wooden handcuffs to keep her hands separated from making transmutations. She pictured being dragged off to prison, shut inside a tiny cell with a stiff cot and a metal toilet, remembering her cell that she had been placed in at the start. She started to sniffle, and then she started to cry as she realized all of her work in alchemy, all of that work in trying to keep herself on their good side, all that work in trying to get out of here with an easy deal, was gone in an instant.

She lay on the bed and started to sob, wishing more than ever that she could just magically return home to her own bed, her parents, her house. Everything that she had known and loved was there, but now she would probably never see it again until she was a middle-aged woman. There was nothing she could do to make this better, and she knew there was no way she could escape. She was doomed. Completely and utterly doomed.

She cried herself to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, she woke up an hour later than she would have normally been. She got to sleep in because no one came to get her. She sat up on the bed, rubbing away the sleep and the tears that had crusted over her eyes. She hoped no one would come for her. She was so afraid of what she would face if someone came. Maybe Armstrong was already reporting this to his boss, she would probably be arrested in a few hours. She slumped over and lay on the bed. She wanted to enjoy this softness as much as she could before she was forced onto a cot or just a wooden slab for a bed. She took one of her pillows and hugged it close, hoping it would provide her some comfort in this situation, but it only made her feel alone. Alone, with no family, no friends, and no one to support her, or try to help her.

She started to cry again as she felt more alone than she had in her entire life. Alex's sisters probably knew what happened. She doubted they would come to her defense after finding out she had tried to escape. She was primarily Alex's burden, so they would let him deal with it. She knew she was going to prison, she knew. The deal was off. She was doomed to prison for ten years, maybe longer because she tried to leave. Would they imprison her for life? Maybe, if they were that strict on trespassing on military property, why not jail her for the rest of her life for going against their deal? She wasn't sure how long she stayed in bed, just crying and wallowing in her loneliness and misery, she could hardly hear the chiming of the clock in her room.

She jumped when she heard the locks on the door sliding open, and she quickly sat up and wiped at her eyes as she watched the light from a transmutation come through the crack before the door was opened up by Alex, coming in with a tray of food and bringing it over to her. His face was harder than she had ever seen it, and she didn't question it as she looked down at the tray. It was some waffles with syrup. She thought that was nice of him, to give her something sweet. It would probably be the last sweet thing she would eat for a long while.

"You've been crying," He said as he looked at her.

"Yes," She didn't see any point in denying it when he could clearly see it on her face. There was silence for a few more moments, with Alex standing above her, and Amelia looking down at the tray of food since she couldn't get up the courage to look him in the eye.

"You should eat before they get cold," Armstrong said, stepping away to find a chair, and Amelia nodded silently before she started cutting into it, taking off a bite and eating slowly. She wanted to avoid this conversation as much as possible, so if eating breakfast slow helped with that, she would do it. She glanced up when she saw her teacher bringing a chair over by her bed, to sit across from her as she ate. She couldn't look at him, feeling her courage withering away, thinking he was staring her down as she slowly took a bite of the waffle. "Delilah and Dianna told me that you attempted to steal a map and escape, is that true?"

Amelia was quiet for a long while, swallowing the bite in her mouth as she tried to think of what she could say. She could tell him that the twins were wrong, and they were lying and had done this with no real point, that they had threatened her to a point where she started crying, but she doubted he would believe any of it. She had only known him for a few weeks, those twins had been around for much longer than she had. "Yes, it's true. But I wasn't trying to escape the country." She lifted her head as she defended herself, though, at the sight of Armstrong's hardened gaze, she ducked her head down again.

"Then where were you going?" He asked her. She didn't know if he was doing this to give her the benefit of the doubt, or he was actually curious.

"I was going to go to the Fifth Laboratory." She said honestly, "I wanted to see if I could find any leftover research material on the philosopher's stone, or maybe a stone itself…"

"Why would you want that?" Armstrong asked, "Are you planning to sell that information to our country's enemies?"

"No! God, no." She lifted her head again, "I was going to use it myself, so I can get home and get out of here." She said, and her teacher still stared her down, but she had to at least tell him the truth, she wasn't sure he would believe anything she said, but it was better than not trying at all. "I don't know how I got here, I don't know what it would take to get me home, and I don't know how equivalent exchange works in cases where someone wants to teleport, but I know I'm not a good enough alchemist to do it entirely on my own! If that lab was the place where they studied it and made it, I thought maybe there was a chance one was left over and I could use it. Hell, an incomplete philosopher's stone had to help somewhat! I just wanted to find one so I can go home and get out of this place so I can have my  _life_  back!" She could feel a lump forming in her throat as she spoke, her vision getting blurry as tears started to well up, "I want to go home to the place where I don't feel monitored every second of my life! I hate that I can't do anything here without someone's permission ahead of time! I hate that I'm not a free person anymore, and it's all for something I didn't even  _do!_  None of this was my fault, but I'm being punished for it!" She felt the tears spilling down her cheeks, and her voice was growing hoarse, but she didn't stop, "I'm so  _tired_  of feeling like a prisoner! I hate that I got arrested for someone else's mistake, I hate that I'm stuck here, and I know you're going to just throw me in jail for this, so  _why the hell are you asking me all these stupid fucking questions and just arrest me already!?_ " Her hands slammed down on the tray, the plate and the waffles clattering to the carpeted floor with the silverware. She let the tray fall after a moment as she reached up to hide her face as she sobbed, not wanting him to see her tears, though it was pointless.

She couldn't control herself, and she kept sobbing, bending over her lap as she cried. She felt a hand on her shoulder, gently rubbing it and giving her some kind of comfort. She reached up and smacked his hand away angrily, " _Stop!_  Don't pretend like you care!" She snarled at him, gasping for breath as she still cried, "Don't pretend that this is just going to go away or whatever! God, I  _hate_  that you would do that! Don't pretend like you're suddenly on my side! You fucking  _asshole!_  You don't have to make this  _worse_  by making me think you suddenly care!"

"Amelia," He spoke her name in such a calm voice that she stopped for a moment, "Please, take a breath. I know that you are scared, but you will not be arrested."

She quieted, calming down as he told her the words she wasn't sure she heard right, "I'm… not getting arrested?" She asked her voice breaking, her breaths still coming out shaky.

"No, you are not." He assured her, his hand reaching for her shoulder again, "But if you are scared, you may cry. It's better to let it out than to keep it inside of you." She shook her head slowly, not really feeling the need to cry now that she knew she wasn't going to be arrested, reaching up to scrub at her cheeks and her eyes to try and dry them. "I understand that you want to go home, and I understand why you would look for the Philosopher's Stone. You are desperate, and it was an opportunity that presented itself."

She wasn't sure what to say as she listened to him speak. He… understood? He wasn't angry? Why? She had done something that was clearly in violation of the agreement that allowed her to stay here, "Then… what's going to happen?" She asked.

"What is going to happen is that we will increase security measures." Armstrong said, "You will be under constant surveillance, and we will be placing you in handcuffs for some time. We can't risk you escaping again." She nodded numbly. "And we are going to talk about what happened so that I can help you to understand that I  _want_ to trust you, just as I want you to trust me."

"...Why?" Her hoarse question came out of her throat automatically.

"Because I know that there is the potential to be a good soldier in you." He said, and he gave her the smallest of smiles, "I know that there is a good person that tried to save the Elric brothers. But I need you to trust in the methods of the state, and you need to understand that you cannot be free until such a time as you have passed your certification exam." His smile fell and he pulled his hand away from her shoulder.

"You might be a little too trusting…" She said as she looked up at him, watching him stand up.

"Perhaps, but are you going to fight this new security measure?" He asked, and Amelia shook her head negatively. "And why is that?"

"I don't want to go to actual jail." She said simply, she frowned as a thought came to mind, "Are you… is this you giving me a second chance?"

Armstrong nodded, "Yes, and you will be able to redeem yourself if you prove to me that you are dedicated to your studies. But, of course, we will not be allowing you to transmute anything. You understand?"

"Yes." she nodded and he did the same.

"Good. Now," He reached for the fallen tray and the plate, seeing syrup stains on the carpet. "I will go and have your breakfast re-made. There's no point in learning on an empty stomach." She watched as he stood with the remains of the food she'd thrown to the floor, leaving it to rest on the chair for a moment before he reached behind him and brought out a pair of wooden handcuffs, "Hold out your hands." She let out a sigh as she held out her wrists, letting him lock her hands inside them. "You will be confined to your room until such a time as I deem it safe for you to leave."

"Okay," She said, looking down at her hands as he picked up the tray again.

"I will return in a few moments." He said, and he went to the door, she could hear it locking behind him, though he didn't seal it with alchemy. No point, seeing as she couldn't use it while she was in handcuffs.

Once he was gone, Amelia let the relief sink in. She wasn't going to be arrested, not yet. By some insane miracle, he was giving her a second chance. She didn't know why, and she didn't care, as long as the deal wasn't off the table. She lay back on the bed, letting her body relax now that there wasn't a reason to be scared. She wondered if part of this was him taking pity on her because she was so young? If it was, that was good.

But after all of that, after trying to escape and getting caught, she knew they had more security measures in place than what she had seen. Delilah and Dianna must have known that she snuck out when they caught her, they might have been monitoring her. She wondered if it would just be more obvious that they were watching her now that the escape attempt had failed.

In any case, she didn't want to take any more risks in escaping, at least not anytime soon. She needed to cooperate with these people, and she needed to have her chance to be a free citizen again at some point soon.

* * *

Through the rest of the day, she was in handcuffs as she was brought to a private room to study alchemy. She wasn't allowed to do any transmutations, and her handcuffs were not at all removed at any part. She studied still, wanting to make good on this show of good faith that Armstrong seemed to have in her. She didn't want to go to jail and ruin her deal, but a part of her also didn't want to disappoint him more than she had already. She still thought he was a little stupid to trust her, but even so she was immensely relieved that he had. She could deal with handcuffs if it meant she could still sleep in that goose down bed and eat the same meals as the rest of the rich family, though she was to eat them privately from now on. With a security monitor on her at all times until she was finished. She was confined to her room with the exception of her lessons, though when she returned, she noticed the windows had been reinforced, and a lock had been placed on the door. It was a nice prison cell, with a luxurious bed and furniture, but it was her new prison cell nonetheless.

The day went on without incident, and she was a little annoyed by the handcuffs but didn't voice her complaint. She wanted to take advantage of this second chance, though she was sure it would be a long while before anyone came to trust her again. She went to bed, with a monitor waiting for her to change into her loaned pajamas before they took her out of her handcuffs and let her go to bed. She rubbed at her wrists, listening as she heard the deadbolt of the new lock sliding in place, and seeing the light from a transmutation, meaning the door was sealed alchemically. She noticed a change in the color of the wood, so she had to guess they changed it to something she wouldn't be able to recognize easily, and therefore not be able to transmute it as easily as she would her own door.

The next morning, it began as it did yesterday, with someone bringing her breakfast, and putting her in handcuffs. She ate in silence, and when she finished she left to do her lesson with Armstrong, but they were stopped by one of the servants.

"Master Alex, you have a telephone call from Sergeant Brosh," He said, holding up the phone on a platter to him, which he took.

"Sergeant? What seems to be the matter?" He asked, and his eyes widened as he listened to the words on the other line that Amelia couldn't hear. "...I see. And the Elric brothers?" He was quiet again, and Amelia's brow furrowed, coming up beside him.

"What happened?" She asked in a quiet voice, only to be met with Armstrong's hand coming up in front of her face, a signal to be quiet a little longer.

"I see. And when is her train arriving?" He asked, and he seemed satisfied with the answer, "Very well. Inform Edward Elric that I will be able to pick her up from the train station."

"Pick up who?" Amelia asked, and was met with the same gesture before he hung up. "What happened?"

"It seems it is a good thing that you did not go to the Fifth Laboratory." Armstrong said, turning to his student, "Apparently, an accident occurred as the Elric brothers were investigating, and there was an explosion that turned the entire building to rubble." Amelia's eyes widened at the news.

"Jesus Christ, how did that happen?" She asked.

"No one knows for certain," He said, "But the Elric brothers were injured, Edward is currently in the hospital, and his automail arm is no longer functioning. We will be going to pick up Miss Winry when she arrives to do a service call tomorrow morning."

"We?" Amelia repeated, "As in you and me?"

"Yes, you and I," Armstrong said, and he continued down the hallway with the servant giving a small bow before he left, with Amelia trailing behind him.

"Um, not that I'm upset or anything - believe me I'm  _thrilled_  to get out of this house for a while - but isn't that kind of…? I don't know, I think most people would call that a stupid move after an escape attempt." She pointed out, a little surprised he was letting her go.

"There's something I want to see." He said vaguely, and Amelia could only assume that he meant he wanted to see her, and how she would do outside of the house with just his supervision. It was probably a test of his trust in her, and she thought that was kind of stupid since she only tried to escape two days ago, but she wasn't about to argue if it meant a chance to get out before being shut up in the house for weeks or months on end.

* * *

The next day, Amelia had her handcuffs put on, ate her breakfast, and made her way with Armstrong to the train station to pick up Winry. It was crowded, and Amelia was still in handcuffs, but she stayed close to Armstrong. She didn't want to fail his test and make good on this second chance. She glanced at the train schedules as she walked behind him though, seeing a lot of names of towns she didn't recognize and trains coming in for them. Looking at them, she was sure she would have no idea where she would even go if she were to get on a train. She didn't know the country at all, and she had no idea where she would even begin to go.

She stood next to Armstrong, trying to look through the crowds of people to find Winry as the train from Resembool came in. Armstrong stood over the crowd easily, so she was sure he would find her first. She looked around and happened to meet eyes with a couple at the station. One was a tall man, as big as Armstrong, with muscles showing from under his shirt and a full beard, his expression hard and intimidating. The woman beside him was smaller, pale, with black hair pulled back into what Amelia could only assume were cornrows. The woman gave her an odd look, glancing down at Amelia's handcuffs. She scowled back at her and turned away, focusing on looking through the crowd of people.

"Are you sure this is her train?" She asked her teacher.

"Edward told us to wait by the western exit for her…" He said, looking over the crowd, "Oh, I see her."

"Hello, Major Armstrong! It's Winry!" Amelia heard her voice call out, watching as a few people moved away as Winry ran over to them. She wasn't wearing the coveralls that Amelia remembered, but a skirt with a matching jacket and a white tank top. On her back was a massive red metal box that she could only assume was Winry's tool kit.

"Hello, Miss Winry, did you have a pleasant trip?" Armstrong asked, and Amelia expected her to make a comment about her handcuffs, but Winry wasn't looking at either of them, looking one way and another for something.

"Where are those stupid Elric brothers?" She asked after a moment, sounding a little surprised they weren't here. Amelia's eyebrows rose at her words.

"He didn't tell you?" She asked her, and Winry looked at her with a confused frown and a slightly furrowed brow.

"Tell me what?" Winry really didn't know, and Amelia was a little surprised that Edward didn't know why he couldn't meet her at the train station. When Amelia didn't answer her question, Winry looked up at Major Armstrong expectantly, and he shifted his shoulders awkwardly, not wanting to have been the one to deliver the news.

"Well, you see…" He leaned down to whisper in her ear about how Edward was doing, and Winry's eyes went wide in horror.

"The hospital?! What happened?!" She almost shrieked the word out and Armstrong gently shushed her as a few people looked their way. She noticed and she quieted, "Can you take me to them?"

"We are here to be your escorts, Miss Winry," Armstrong said, starting to walk, and Amelia trailed behind him, with Winry walking beside her.

"Do you know what happened?" Winry asked, and Amelia shrugged, reaching up to scratch at her nose, the handcuffs coming up with her, and Winry looked at them with wide eyes, noticing them for the first time.

"Not exactly. I know there was a building and it was kind of destroyed, I don't know what's up with the Elric brothers." She said apologetically as she moved her hands down. Winry still stared down at the cuffs and Amelia followed her gaze before frowning a little.

"...Why are you in handcuffs?" She asked, looking back up at her.

"Well, the short version is that these are increased security measures." She said, shaking her hands inside their bonds noisily to make her point.

"Security measures for what? Did you hurt someone?" Winry asked, stepping a little bit away from Amelia to get some more space from her, a little wary.

"No, I tried to steal a map from Armstrong's room," Amelia said.

"That seems a little harsh just for trying to steal something like that…" Winry said as the three of them headed out, Armstrong listening in on the girl's conversation as he walked to the waiting car for them.

"Not really, when you consider the circumstances." Amelia said, looking down at her handcuffs, "Honestly, I'm amazed he didn't just send me off to jail for it."

"What?" Winry seemed really confused and concerned, "Why would you go to jail over a map? That seems really, really strict!" She looked up at Armstrong as he turned around to open the car door for them, "Is this how you teach  _all_  of your alchemy students?"

"Well, no, but Amelia's case is a bit different… Did Edward not tell you?" He asked.

"Tell me what? If he didn't tell me he was in the hospital, I doubt he'd tell me whatever it is you're talking about!" Winry said, starting to get a little frustrated.

"Winry," Amelia got her attention, "Didn't Edward tell you that I'm technically a convicted felon?" Winry's eyes widened and she looked Amelia up and down as if seeing her in a new, unusual light. "Look, let's just get in the car." She let out a resigned sigh, guessing that this was going to be an interesting conversation on the way to the hospital. Winry slid in next to her while Major Armstrong took the driver's seat and made his way to the hospital.

"So… what are you convicted for?" Winry asked, still keeping a little distance in case Amelia had done something dangerous.

"I am considered guilty of the  _terrible_  crime of trespassing on military property," Amelia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Winry's shoulders slumped a bit at the anti-climactic answer.

"Wait, that's  _it_?" She asked.

"Yeah, I cut a deal where, so long as I learn alchemy and become a state-certified alchemist, I don't have to go to jail." She said, "But this all hinges on the fact that I need to actually pass the certification, so Armstrong is my alchemy teacher." She leaned back into her seat. She wasn't entirely comfortable in the car since none of the models she found had seatbelts. She didn't feel safe.

"How often do they do that?" Winry asked, and Amelia shrugged in response.

"I don't know. I'm guessing I'm a special exception because my trespassing was related to alchemy." She said, "But that's a story for another time." She waved off the explanation, not wanting to have to spend the entire car trip telling her about it. "Would you believe the penalty for trespassing is  _ten years_  in prison? Don't you think that's a little extreme?"

"It does seem like a little much…" Winry couldn't help agreeing, "What's the penalty for trespassing on just private property?" She asked, turning to Armstrong at the front of the car.

"I believe the utmost penalty is a fine of 50,000 cens." He replied.

" _What?!_  Private property gets a  _fine_ , but military property is jail time?!" Amelia couldn't help but feel there was a great prejudice with the difference in penalties, "Doesn't that seem like a massive difference to you?"

Armstrong let out a hum, "It's never occurred to me before. Perhaps I should speak to the higher generals about that odd difference."

"Please do." Amelia huffed as she leaned back in her seat. Winry shifted a little in her seat, her tool box making a little noise and Amelia glanced over at it. "So, what all's in there, anyway?"

"Oh, just about every kind of thing I might need for Ed's automail without an actual replacement." Winry said nonchalantly, "Lots of wrenches and screwdrivers, his arm should be an easy enough fix…" She just hoped he wouldn't get on her about forgetting that screw that caused his arm to stop working. And now that he was in the hospital… she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. What if he had gotten really badly hurt because his automail wasn't working? He said he'd been in a fight, what if the person he was fighting had taken advantage of his arm stopping? "Do you know how bad it is?"

Amelia shook her head, "No, I haven't seen him. But I assume he's still the pissy little fireball that he regularly is, despite all of this."

"I guess…" Winry said quietly. Amelia was a little curious about her quietness, given how she seemed so… energetic when she saw her in Resembool, but she hadn't known her very long, so she decided not to push anything.

Soon enough, they arrived at the hospital, with Armstrong escorting both of them down the halls to Edward's room. When they came in, they saw Edward with bandages around his head, his arm, and they could see plenty around his ribs since he was without a shirt. He had been talking to Sergeant Brosh when they came in, with him and Lieutenant Ross saluting the Major in greeting. At the sight of Ed, Winry felt her arms give way and her toolbox clattered on the floor as she stared at him. The noise startled everyone and put their attention on her.

"Well… that didn't take long." Edward said, his expression looking a little anxious as he looked down at the toolbox, "You're gonna charge me an express service fee now, aren't you?"

Winry looked over the bandages, seeing how badly he was hurt, feeling guilt flooding through her body and weighing down her shoulders. She hung her head as she looked down at the floor, mentally cursing herself for letting Edward get hurt like this because she hadn't done her job properly, "No, I… I won't charge you for this." She said in a quiet voice, "I didn't do a good enough job on your automail last time… and now you're badly injured."

Amelia was a little surprised that she was blaming herself for this, and everyone looked at Edward to see his response to how this seemingly innocent girl was blaming herself for injuries that Ed received. He looked around to see them all staring at him, and he got a little flustered before he started quickly trying to cheer her up and comfort her, "I-It's not  _your_ fault! You can't blame yourself for this! I broke it because I was being reckless!" Edward said quickly, "Your repairs were flawless as ever! This is all  _my_  fault!" He let out an awkward laugh as he finished.

_He has no idea…_  Winry realized as she listened to him,  _He never noticed I forgot to put in that screw._

"Besides, if my arm hadn't broken when it did," Edward continued, "I would have kept fighting and then I would have been hurt even worse! So, don't worry about it, okay? Okay?" He looked at her with an anxious grin, unsure if anything he was saying was actually working since she didn't seem to be doing anything in response.

_So… it turned out alright?_  Winry thought, getting a mischievous gleam in her eye at the knowledge that her mistake wasn't caught. She grinned and came up to Edward's bed, looking more energetic than ever. "Well then, let's go ahead and get right down to business, shall we?" She asked, her teeth showing in her wide grin, "I'll have to charge you the usual rush order fee, of course."

"Huh?" Edward was a little dumbstruck at how quickly Winry's mood had changed from being depressed and guilt-ridden to so energetic and eager to work. He wasn't really sure what to say, and most others in the room shared in that gobsmacked feeling of confusion.

Winry looked over at the hospital tray that was empty of food, save a bottle of milk. She frowned at the sight and then looked back at him, "You didn't drink your milk." Edward looked away stubbornly with a scowl on his face.

"Why should I? I hate it." He muttered.

"You're going to be small and stunted forever if you keep using that stupid excuse!" Winry snapped at him, reaching out to pinch at his cheek. Being called the 's' word made Edward's temper flare up very quickly.

"SHUT UP! I DON'T HAVE TO DRINK IT IF I DON'T WANNA!" He snapped back, pushing her hand away.

"You sound like a spoiled little brat, Edward Elric!" Armstrong put in, taking off his shirt and striking a pose, "Milk helps to create a strong powerful body like mine!"

"Ugh!" Amelia reached up to push his uniform off of her head where it had landed and threw it back on her teacher's body.

"Every growing boy needs his milk." Lieutenant Ross agreed with her superior officer.

"Yeah! You want the girls to like you, don't you?" Sergeant Brosh asked.

The conversation paused when the door to the room shut, making everyone look up. Had it been open all this time?

"Was that Al?" Edward asked, curious about who might have shut the door.

"Well, you all  _were_  making a lot of noise." Amelia said, "Could have just been someone who wanted you to be less rowdy." She gave her teacher a small glare, "And maybe a bit more clothed." The Major said nothing as he started to dress again. As she spoke, Edward noticed the handcuffs she had on and couldn't help grinning at the sight.

"Well, well, looks like someone's finally being treated like a common criminal." He said smugly, and Amelia glared at him.

"Keep talking smack, it's just that much more reason to send you to an early grave." She said, and Edward glared right back at her. Armstrong cleared his throat and she scowled before she looked away from him, muttering under her breath, "Asshole…"

"So, what happened to get her locked up, anyway?" Edward asked the Major.

"Miss Seymour was caught attempting an escape by stealing the map that I had." The Major said, "So extra security measures had to be taken." Edward quirked a brow.

"I would have thought escape attempts would land her in jail," Edward said.

"Normally, they would have." Armstrong agreed, "However, after hearing a passionate, tearful plea from Miss Seymour, I could not help but think to give her a second chance."

Amelia's face bloomed in a bright red blush at the mention of a tearful plea, " _Excuse you!_  I did  _not!_ " She almost screeched at him.

" _Can_  she actually cry?" Edward asked, "I can't really picture that."

"You shut your mouth!" Amelia snapped at Edward before turning back to the Major, "It was  _not_ a tearful plea! And you don't need to go telling people that,  _either!_  You know how humiliating that is?!"

The Major was surprised at her sudden anger over his word choice, "But you were crying as you spoke, I thought it was a fitting way to describe it."

"She  _actually_  cried?" Edward asked, astonished.

" _Shut up!_ " Amelia screeched again, "Both of you! Just… shut up!" She glared up at the Major, "We brought the stupid mechanic here, let's just go back already! I'd rather be locked up in my room than be stuck listening to you guys talk about this!" She said with a huff, heading for the door. The Major, knowing they had done their job, saluted Edward as he walked with his student out of the hospital.

Once she was gone, Edward let out a small hum before he turned to Winry, "So, the repair?"

"Oh, right." Winry had gotten caught up in the moment and forgotten, going to pick up her toolbox and bring it over to the side of the bed. "Go ahead and lay on your stomach, I'll fix your arm from there." She said, reaching for the empty tray and table for Edward's food and moving it so he could put his automail arm across it. Edward did as she told him and tried to picture Amelia in the position that Armstrong had described. Amelia had always come off as abrasive to him, stubborn, and kind of a selfish brat. It was hard to picture her in a situation where she would be so vulnerable that she would start crying in front of another person. She just… didn't seem like the type.

* * *

Amelia walked down the hall, glancing into one hallway where a light had gone out, seeing an odd figure there, initially thinking it was some strange piece of furniture, but she soon recognized it as someone familiar, "Oh, Alphonse." She called to the suit of armor, who turned his head at the sound of her voice.

"Hi, Amelia." He greeted her in a monotonous voice, and Amelia thought it was odd, given he normally had a pretty cheerful demeanor in the time she had known him. "Why are you in handcuffs."

"Long story short, I got caught trying to escape, so these are increased security measures." She said, holding up the wooden handcuffs, starting to walk over to him. The Major walked with her.

"How are you doing, Alphonse Elric?" He asked, "Your brother seems as energetic as ever."

"Yeah, I could hear him shouting about the milk." Alphonse said, "I thought it was better if I shut the door."

"Oh, so that was  _you_ ," Amelia said. "I thought it was one of the hospital staff or something."

"I know you and your brother went to the Fifth Laboratory, Alphonse," The Major said, getting his attention, "Even when I explicitly told you not to go."

Alphonse only shrugged, "We had to know, Major. I don't really have an excuse for it." The Major hummed.

"I see." He said, "In the Fifth Lab, did you or Edward discover anything new regarding the research into the Philosopher's Stone?" Alphonse shook his head.

"I didn't really discover anything new…" The way his voice trailed off made something tick with Amelia, remembering that tone of voice when she would speak to people before, about something they had done that they were embarrassed, or upset about. It was a tone she had learned to recognize after years of being stuck in a socialite's world. "But I didn't go inside the lab. Edward was the one who went inside."

"I see." The Major said again, "Then I'll have to return to ask for details regarding his experience when he's feeling better." He looked around the hallway, "Perhaps it would be better for you to get out of this dark area, Alphonse. It doesn't seem very comfortable."

"Yeah, this place is a little creepy." Amelia agreed.

"You might go and see your brother," Armstrong said, "I'm sure he's looking to speak to you." Alphonse only nodded in reply. "Until we meet again." The Major said, giving Alphonse a small salute that he returned.

"See you," Amelia said as she started to leave, she and the Major had just reached the mouth of the dark hallway when Alphonse called out to her.

"Amelia, wait." She turned back, a little surprised that he had something more to say since he didn't seem to be in the most talkative mood, "I… wanted to thank you for your present. It's a good story so far."

"Oh." Was that all? "You're welcome." She turned away, thinking that was it, but Alphonse called out again.

"Amelia," She looked back once more, "We're friends, right?"

"Um…" She was a little reluctant to use the term since she didn't really have friends in her life, "I guess so." She answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

Alphonse's mind had been swirling with the words that Barry the Chopper had said to him, all day he had been doubting everything that he was and everything that he is. He wanted to reach out to someone, to know that he was real. Amelia wasn't Edward, she wasn't the one that might have made him, and he wanted to know if she thought that he was  _real_ , but for all of his courage, he couldn't ask it. But knowing that they were friends, that she considered that little string that might connect them despite their few, and kind of awkward interactions, it helped to comfort him a little to know that, to Amelia, he was real. "Okay, well… have a safe trip back." He said.

Amelia nodded, a little confused at their conversation, but she continued on her way with Armstrong next to her, "I'm glad you've seemed to take a liking to each other." He said. Amelia shrugged in response.

"Well, he's a lot easier to talk to than his brother, that's for damn sure."


	14. Hughes Dies

_Death never pierces the heart so much_

_as when it takes someone we love;_

_cleaving the heart they held with their passing._

**_-Brandon M. Herbert_ **

* * *

Amelia looked up at the estate as she came back with Armstrong, seeing Delilah and Dianna waiting for them at the front door. "I guess you still have some work to do," Amelia said since she guessed she was going to be escorted back to her room with the two maids there.

"Yes, there are a few things I need to do in regards to the Fifth Laboratory." Armstrong said, "And once I've finished, I'll return home."

"Alright, I won't go anywhere until tomorrow, I guess." She said, "But it was nice to get out for a while."

Armstrong came around to open the door, letting her out and bringing her over to the twins who met the pair with synchronized curtsies. Amelia went with them, walking through the halls to her bedroom, only to be redirected from it before she could turn to the door with the twins holding the bends of her arms and pulling her away, "This way, Miss Seymour." The twins said in sync.

"I thought I was going back to my room?" Amelia said questioningly.

"And in time, you will," Dianna said, "However, your presence has been requested."

"By who?"

"The young Miss Strongine, of course." Delilah said, "And Miss Catherine." Amelia could only imagine that Strongine wanted to see her for one reason.

* * *

Amelia came into the music room to see the familiar sight of Strongine's powerful and tall figure next to Catherine's petite and curvy one on the piano bench together, with Strongine directing her sister to play. It was a tune that Amelia didn't recognize, some happy, bouncy kind of song that was interrupted when the pair heard the door closing.

"Amelia!" Strongine beamed at the sight of her, "Glad you could join us. Come, sit!" She got up from her seat to make room for Amelia, who slowly came over to her, looking between the two sisters. She hadn't seen either of them for days, the only people she had seen since her security had been increased was her teacher and a few servants sent to keep an eye on her. She paused at the bench, looking at the piano keys and down at her wrists. Well, she supposed it would be safer in their eyes for her to keep them on…

"Oh, we should get those off of you." Catherine said, turning to the twins, "May we have the cuff keys, please?" Delilah produced a key ring with only one key on it, bringing it to Catherine who unlocked Amelia's handcuffs. She was glad for it, but still a bit confused. "There, that's better isn't it?"

"What's going on?" She asked, looking up at Strongine, "Why am I here?"

"Well, it's time for Catherine's lessons." Strongine said as if it were obvious, "She only practices once every few weeks on her schedule. She felt she learned a great deal from seeing you play the last time, so we invited you again."

"But…" Her brow furrowed a little, "I thought…" She hadn't seen them since she had gotten caught. She would have thought they weren't allowed to see her since she was at risk for escaping again or something, at least that's what she assumed when she didn't hear from any of the Armstrong sisters. "Aren't you scared?"

"Of what? You?" Strongine asked with a chuckle, "No offense meant, my dear, but you're hardly intimidating. I've seen how you would run around the courtyards with Alex." Amelia blushed at the mention, knowing she was the slowest of the group and she never looked her best doing it, either.

"You know what I mean!" She snapped at her, "I tried to escape! Aren't you afraid of getting in trouble with your brother or something?"

"Why would Alex get us in trouble?" Catherine asked innocently.

"Because you're not allowed to talk to me… or something… Right?" She looked between the two of them, wondering if her assumption had been wrong, "I haven't seen you guys since I got caught trying to take a map."

"Oh, that." Strongine waved dismissively, "We were just busy preparing for the upcoming reunion. We simply didn't have time to see you since Catherine, Amue, and I were in charge of writing and sealing up the invitations."

"Amue has the most beautiful calligraphy," Catherine said with a smile, "She was in charge of writing out the invitations, and Strongine was in charge of making sure all the invitations had the same message since she's an excellent orator. I was in charge of making sure the letters were sealed properly and sent to the right addresses. We didn't mean to make you feel like you were forbidden from seeing us." She reached out to touch Amelia's shoulder, "We were just caught up in party planning. I hope you can forgive us for making you feel like you were being punished."

Amelia did feel a little relief in knowing that she wasn't forbidden from seeing the Armstrong sisters. In comparison to their brother, they were a little more welcome since they never talked about alchemy or her training or anything related to it. It was a welcome reprieve from her teaching. "Well… no, it's fine, it's not like it's your fault. I  _was_  being punished." She said, "I didn't know you guys were…" She paused, "A reunion? Like a family reunion?"

"Oh, yes. It's one of the more fantastic parties in the Armstrong tradition. Held once every five years." Strongine said, "Our family will be hosting it on our estate this year. There will be plenty of dancing, and delicious food, and  _divine_  music."

"Sounds like a blast." Amelia couldn't really care less.

"Oh, you should attend!" Catherine said excitedly, "You live here with us, after all! And you can showcase your piano playing with a song!"

"What a wonderful idea!" Strongine said with a smile matching her little sister's. "You're such a wonderful piano player! I'm sure you know plenty of songs that we don't!"

"Why should I?" Amelia frowned a little at the idea, "I'm not an Armstrong, why would I go to an Armstrong family reunion?"

"Everyone is allowed to bring a guest if they want." Catherine said, "You can be mine! I don't have any suitors I'd like to bring, anyway."

"Catherine gets too many suitors and she always feels guilty about not inviting all of them." Strongine said, "She's too kind for it, so she never invites any of them."

"I don't know… don't you think it would be weird for me to showcase something at your family reunion? Shouldn't you guys be the ones showing off?" She asked, "I mean, they're your family, they care about you."

"Well, you don't have to-"

"Of course you should!" Strongine cut off her sister, "You're a magnificent player!"

Amelia frowned a little, "Okay when you try to encourage me like Alex does, that makes me want to play a hell of a lot less." Strongine was a little surprised at the comparison to her brother, but she soon came back to herself with a small sigh.

"Fine, you don't have to play unless you really want to." She said, sounding disappointed, "But you should still come. It's a great party regardless of whether or not you're performing."

"I'll… I'll think about it." She said. She wasn't a big fan of high society parties since she was too familiar with some of them that her own family had thrown and they were never really for her sake, even if it was something like her birthday. But she didn't want to outright refuse, maybe it would be different with the Armstrong family. "Can we just get to playing the piano?"

"Of course." Strongine said, "Do you have any compositions that we might play out?"

"Um… I don't know, I know a few from memory…" She said, starting to play out a couple tunes she could remember, mostly just because they were the ones that she liked playing the most. After a while, Catherine asked her to teach some of them, and she started to do just that. This went on for an hour or so, the three of them just playing together, and Amelia had to admit that she felt so comfortable with these two girls. She found herself playing with a little more enthusiasm as well - after all, since security measures had been taken, she hadn't touched a piano. She was glad to be back on that stool again, playing out the music she knew by heart, and learning the compositions that Strongine was teaching to Catherine.

"You know, you should write down some of these." Strongine said after Amelia finished another song she had known, "They're beautiful music. I would love to be able to practice them while you're out with Alex, or training or doing whatever it is that you do when you're not here."

"Oh… Well, I guess I could do that." She could read music well enough, and she could remember the notes of the keyboard as well. "I don't really have any paper or anything."

"I'll send for some sheet music for you to write it on." Strongine said with a smile, "Any song that you can write up for us would be wonderful. Do you know any compositions that accompany singing?"

"A couple of them. Hallelujah is my personal favorite." She said, starting to play out the tune for it. "When I get the composition down, I can write out the lyrics."

"You don't want to sing it?" Strongine asked, "If you could sing as well as play piano, that would make for quite a combination."

Amelia was a little surprised she would ask, "Well… Um, I don't know. I don't think I'm super good, but as far as I know, I'm not tone deaf." She said, still mostly focused on playing out the tune, "Don't you sing?" She asked, turning to Catherine.

"Oh, no, not me." She said, "I'm too soft-spoken. Mother says I can't project very well." Amelia looked up to Strongine, who shook her head.

"Not me, I'm a bit flat overall. Mother's tried to get me to sing better, but I'm simply not that good in comparison to Amue."

"Amue sings?"

"Oh, she sings beautifully!" Strongine praised her sister, "She's very operatic, but she can adjust herself to almost any genre of music. She even does folk music well." It made sense to Amelia, she remembered how high-pitched and feminine Amue's voice was in comparison to Strongine's deep one. "But we're getting a little off subject, aren't we? We can't sing it without knowing how the lyrics go." Amelia frowned a little as her fingers paused on the piano. "Will you sing it?" Strongine was a little concerned that she stopped, "Are you perhaps a little shy?"

"Um… I guess I can." She said, starting the song over, "Just… Don't laugh if I turn out to be tone-deaf, okay?" Strongine nodded as she promised not to do so, Catherine doing the same.

" _I heard there was a secret chord_  
 _That David played and it pleased the Lord_  
 _But you don't really care for music, do you?_  
 _Well it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth_  
 _The minor fall and the major lift_  
 _The baffled king composing Hallelujah._

_Hallelujah, hallelujah,_

_Hallelujah, hallelujah_

_Your faith was strong but you needed proof_   
_You saw her bathing on the roof_   
_Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you_   
_She tied you to her kitchen chair_   
_She broke your throne and she cut your hair_   
_And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah, hallelujah,_

_Hallelujah, halle-_ "

"What does that mean?" Amelia paused at the question, her fingers stopping the piano keys.

"What?"

"That word, what does it mean?" Catherine asked innocently, "I've never heard it before."

"Hallelujah?" Catherine nodded, showing that was the word she meant, "Well, it means… um…" Amelia wasn't entirely sure of the definition, "It's like… It basically means 'Praise God' or something to that effect. Like, something good happens and you say, 'Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!'"

"Oh." Catherine smiled, "I guess that makes sense, I didn't realize your song was religious."

"It's not." Amelia frowned, "It's kind of a love song of sorts, bemoaning a lost love or something. It just compares the love the guy felt to the kind of… holiness that comes with God, I guess. I thought it was a powerful song." She looked down at the piano, "Maybe I can just write up the lyrics for you later or something. I don't really want to sing it." She felt a little discouraged and embarrassed after that interruption.

"Oh, no, please go on." Strongine said, "It sounded lovely."

"No, it's alright. I'm good." Amelia held her ground and Strongine frowned in disappointment, but she let them move on.

"Then perhaps we can teach you a new song." She said, pulling out a sheet of music to follow as they started the lessons once more.

* * *

Soon enough, the lessons came to an end and Amelia was returned to her room, though with an armful of sheet music paper to write up her songs on. She figured it would be a good way to pass time until the next time she had an alchemy lesson, or got out of her room, which she wasn't sure would be anytime soon. She got to work on composing what she could from memory for a little while, sitting in the quiet room and remembering the music, playing it over and over again in her head as she wrote it down, making sure she got it right and hoping that it would come out on the piano the same way it was coming out on paper.

She looked up when she heard knocking, pausing her writing as she said, "Come in!" to see the door open to Major Armstrong. She turned around to face him, and he had both of his hands behind his back. She wasn't used to seeing him stand like that, but she figured it was on purpose, "Yeah? Is it lesson time or something?"

"You have done much better today, given your past issues." Armstrong said, "So I went out to get you a small reward." He pulled his hands from behind his back, revealing a small bag. She reached for it, opening it up and pulling out what was inside. It was a necklace, a little oval-shaped locket. She opened it up and wasn't at all surprised to see Major Armstrong's picture in there.

"Wow. A locket with your picture. I don't know what to say." She said dryly, though the locket itself was rather nice, a good silver chain, and the design on the locket's face was nice, too. "It's pretty."

"Thank you, it was my first photograph taken for my military identification papers." Now that Amelia looked closely, she noticed something extremely odd and disturbing about the picture of him in there.

"Jesus Christ, you look  _fucked up_  without your mustache!" She said, her face cringing a little at the sight of a clean-shaven Armstrong. He looked exactly like his sisters Amue and Strongine, only without cosmetics. As a man, she supposed it was fine since he wasn't held to the same beauty standards, but he wasn't the friendliest face to look at that way. "You look like a bull that just ate its first lemon, you're so sour-faced!"

"Yes, in my younger years, I was quite intimidating." He said proudly, "But we were told not to smile for our portraits. A year after enlisting, I allowed myself to grow the glorious facial hair you see today." He gestured to his mustache and Amelia rolled her eyes a little bit. "But I am glad that you have been adjusting to this new standard of security, and I understand that it will be difficult to deal with for some time, but it means a great deal to me that you are trying."

"Careful, Major. If you come off as too sincere, I might just take advantage of that." She joked, and he smiled at her. "But… this is a nice locket. And the picture is… a good placeholder. If nothing else, it'll be a good way to start a conversation." She looked down at it, turning it over in her hands, "So… thanks."

"Would you like some help putting it on?" He asked, and Amelia shrugged, figuring there was no harm in letting him. She turned around and he put the locket around her neck. She wasn't sure his massive fingers could deal with such a tiny chain that well, but apparently they did fine and soon she wore her locket. She looked down at it with an approving hum, "You look lovely."

"Thank you," she said, turning back around to face him. "So… do I also get some lightened security measures since I was so good today?"

"No. It would take a lot more than one good day to convince me of that." Amelia frowned, but she understood. It was pretty reasonable after all, that he wouldn't be convinced after one day on the outside. "But it does tell me that I can keep an eye on you outside of the house. I am returning to the hospital tomorrow to speak with Edward Elric in detail about what happened to the Fifth Laboratory, as the sudden destruction of the building is very… coincidental."

"You mean because Ed started investigating it?" She asked, and the Major nodded.

"At the moment, we can't seem to find the source of the sudden explosion, and it's very concerning." He said, "Our investigation so far suggests that it was multiple bombs hidden throughout the building. If this was done under government watch, the idea that there was something in there that was worth destroying the building for is very concerning."

"Well, we already know some of your government was involved with people being made into stones." Amelia said, "Maybe those same guys didn't want to get caught. It's better to erase the evidence than hold onto it."

"But the question is why was the laboratory still standing to begin with if that was the case?" Armstrong said, "The building was shut down, it hadn't been in use for years, and the guards staffed there can attest that no one has gone in or out that they've seen or heard." Amelia's brow furrowed as she tried to think.

"It does seem odd that you'd keep it standing when there's damning evidence inside that could destroy your entire career in the military…" She paused as a thought came to her, "Unless you were still using it."

"That's the part I'm afraid of." Armstrong said, "If there were bodies to exhume of them, then I would have certainly done it by now. Unfortunately, the military requires that all prison executions are dealt with by cremation, and I cannot check to see if the corpses were falsely made."

"You can't check the ashes?" She asked, "See if there's any sign that it was a person that was burned? I know sometimes things like teeth and bones don't get burned all the way down. Maybe they just took ashes from a fire or something."

"The issue is finding a reason to investigate without arousing suspicion from whoever did this terrible thing." Armstrong said, "I am hoping that the Elric brothers can provide me with a better reason than what I can come up with, see if their experience in the Fifth Laboratory can give me probable cause to search the ashes of the executed."

"Sounds like a blast." She spoke in that same dry tone, "Well, tell Alphonse I said hi, at least. Did he seem kind of down to you?" He had sounded a little different than normal when she spoke to him, and he had seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn't in the end. She doubted they were close enough for her to really help him that much, anyway.

"He did, which is why I'd like you to return with me when I speak to them tomorrow. He seemed a little less sullen when you appeared. And young Edward certainly gained a little more energy."

"Oh, yeah, sure. He got more energetic so he could rag on me." She rolled her eyes a little bit. But then again… "Well… I guess I could stand to go at it again. Maybe I can think of some better insults this time."

"I wish you wouldn't." The Major sighed, "I would rather you and Edward Elric be on better terms. He is a fine, upstanding young man."

"With a fuse shorter than my fingernail."

"Well, perhaps he has some anger issues, but he is in a unique position, it's natural that he would become stressed." The Major said, "This may not be the best outlet for it, perhaps, but you don't seem very hurt by his insults."

"Of course not, none of them have been that good, anyway." She said with an indifferent shrug, "But whatever. I'd like to get out of the house again if I get the chance."

"I'm sure the Elric brothers will be glad to see you." The Major said, "And you can speak to Lieutenant Colonel Hughes a little earlier to update him on your progress. I'm sure he'll be happy for the convenience of the trip." Amelia's expression fell into one of unease.

"Well, that's  _great_ …" She didn't exactly want to talk about why she had to leave the house in handcuffs, or how she got caught. She doubted that would go over well with whatever superior officer was reading the reports he gave.

* * *

The next day progressed as the new norm, but the exercise regimen was back at 5 AM. The Major apparently spoke to his sisters, who told him how Amelia had felt shunned, and felt guilty for it. Amelia cursed his good-natured generosity all through her run that morning, and she sat out for the rest of weight training as she relaxed with her phone and the music on it once more. Once that was finished, and she was dressed and ready for the day, she went with the Major to Central Headquarters to pick up Lieutenant Colonel Hughes so they could all go to the hospital together.

The car ride was a little… awkward, considering that Amelia sat next to the Lieutenant Colonel in the backseat.

"So… any reason you're in handcuffs?" He asked her, and Amelia wished she could shrink away in that moment. She found it difficult to answer, and she couldn't look him in the eye. When she didn't answer him, Hughes turned to Armstrong, "Major?"

"She was caught trying to steal a map from my quarters." The Major said, "We increased security measures as a result."

"I see." Hughes looked back at Amelia, who still wouldn't look him in the eye, "So you were trying to escape."

"I was  _not!_ " She turned to him, "I wanted to go to the fifth lab! I wasn't trying to violate the agreement I had with you guys!"

"How convenient that every escape attempt you have, it's always for a "good" reason." Hughes said doubtfully, "The last time, you were following Scar because you recognized his description as a criminal."

"That was the truth!" She snapped at him, "Why won't you just believe me?! I'm being honest about that map! I just wanted to go to the lab and see if they had something that could help me get home, that's all." Hughes didn't look like he believed her at all, and she scoffed, "Whatever. I'm already a prisoner at the Armstrong estate, you might as well write a report saying that I deserve to be one."

"Now, I didn't say I was doing that," Hughes replied, and Amelia said nothing in return. She didn't really want to talk to him that much. The rest of the car ride was Major Armstrong filling the space by telling the Lieutenant Colonel the results of his investigations thus far. Apparently, he had already been informed about the Philosopher's Stone being made in the Fifth Lab, and that Edward and Alphonse did some of their own investigations but did something to trigger the explosion of the building, or someone else did.

When they arrived at the hospital, they went to Edward's room. He was already there with Alphonse, and he greeted Armstrong and Hughes with a small wave and a, "Hey," though he didn't quite do the same for Amelia.

"Well, if it isn't the prisoner." He greeted her with a smug grin, and Amelia replied with a sneer of her own.

"I may be a prisoner, but at least I'm free to walk instead of being trapped in a hospital bed, and treated like a child." Edward scowled at her.

"I wouldn't be talking so big when you're still in handcuffs."

"Right, because  _I'm_ treated as a threat." She said, holding up said handcuffs to rub it in, "Like a grown-up." Edward's scowl only deepened and he glared at her.

"Edward," The Major redirected his attention to him, "The Lieutenant Colonel and I are currently doing investigations into the Fifth Laboratory, but we need to know what it was you saw in there. It may give us some hint about what else went on in there if anything did."

"Do you think you can tell us what happened in there?" The Lieutenant Colonel asked, and Edward nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Well, for starters, the place still seemed to be in use when I got there." Edward began his tale, speaking of how he met with a hollow suit of armor that was two souls bound together, a pair of brothers. One in the helmet, and another bonded to the body of the armor. Alphonse told his own story of meeting a similar character; apparently, all of them had been former prisoners sentenced to death but were instead made guards to the place. Edward described the fight he had with the brothers briefly, but Hughes interrupted him and asked for more details about the place. As far as Edward could tell, the place had still been in use, saying there had been blood on the floor of the transmutation circle in the main room where fought, "But I don't know how old it was. It looked like it had been there for a while." That was satisfactory enough for Hughes.

As the story went on, Edward described the odd people he met that ended up killing the brothers in their armor by destroying their blood seals. When he was asked to sketch them out, Hughes lent him his notebook to let him draw what he remembered. "They had Ouroboros tattoos. The woman had one on her chest and the… well, the other guy had one on his thigh." He drew out the tattoo, and Amelia looked at it with Armstrong and Hughes.

"What's an ouroboros?" She asked as she looked at the image, which seemed to be a kind of winged snake lying in a circle.

"It's the image of a snake eating its own tail." Edward explained it briefly, starting to draw out the circle he had seen in the laboratory as well, "The alchemy was a little odd, too. It was a polygonal transmutation circle, but it was almost completely blank save for a couple of things." He drew it out and gave it to Hughes, who looked over it carefully. Edward got to work, "Anyway, those two people kept saying something about a 'sacrifice' and how the brothers telling me everything was somehow putting me at risk because they would have to kill me for whatever that information was. The woman kind of looked like this." He held up a face that Amelia scrunched up her nose a little at. It was very childlike in comparison to his drawings of transmutation circles and the ouroboros, just a couple lines for the eyes and a weird pair of puckered lips, with wavy hair that almost looked like a tail.

"You suck at drawing people," Amelia said bluntly, and Edward scowled at her.

"I never really had to make that a priority!" He snapped at her, "You do better, then!"

"Can't." Amelia held up her cuffed hands as an excuse and Edward rolled his eyes.

"If you can't do it better, then don't complain about it." He said before he went back to drawing and made another character, "I don't remember any bombs going off, but the last thing I remember is this guy kicking me." He held up his new drawing, with the one of the woman crossed out with an X. It was really more of a doodle than anything, but it was apparently better than nothing as Hughes examined the images.

"It's odd that he let you live." Armstrong said, "What about this 'sacrifice' and these other armored souls?"

"Not to mention the Ouroboros tattoos and the transmutation circle," Hughes added. "And Doctor Marcoh claims that they were using the Philosopher's stone in Ishval…"

"Every clue we have to work with seems to lead to its own mystery," Armstrong said.

"Not much we can do about that, though." Hughes replied, "Any answers we might have found are under a ton of rubble back at the lab." The group of men all let out a sigh as they realized just how cut off from information they were in regards to everything that was happening. Amelia had to admit, it did seem pretty hopeless in regards to figuring out what was going on.

"I'll run a search and see if I can find some priors on anyone with an Ouroboros tattoo," Hughes said, picking up the image that Edward had drawn of it.

"Very good," Armstrong said, "And while you do that, I'll continue looking into the research team that was working with Doctor Marcoh in Ishval."

Someone knocked on the door to Edward's room, and Amelia looked back at it with everyone else. The door opened with the man saying, "Sorry to interrupt," as the door swung wider, they could see it was the Fuhrer himself coming in to greet them with a polite smile on his face, dressed in full uniform. The shock was completely tangible through the room as he made his sudden, unexpected appearance.

Immediately, Armstrong and Hughes stood at a salute.

"Fuhrer Bradley! Your Excellency!" Armstrong greeted him stiffly.

"Calm down, gentlemen," He dismissed the major's stiff greeting with a wave of his hand, "This is just an informal visit." They lowered their hands and gave a respectful bow in greeting, as did Alphonse.

"Yes, sir," Hughes said, "But may I please ask the occasion, sir?"

Hughes walked up to Edward, who quickly made his way out of bed to greet him on his feet. Amelia stayed a little behind Armstrong as she watched him come forward, looking at his eye patch in his profile. She had only met him once before, and she knew he was the reason she wasn't locked away in jail right at that moment. Still, it was kind of hard to be in his presence, knowing just who he was and what he was capable of doing.

"This young man," The Fuhrer looked to Edward, "Heard you're injured. I thought a nice melon might cheer you up." He held up a basket with a big, round, green melon inside, with a pink ribbon wrapped around the handle of the basket itself. It looked like a simple, but still a very nice, gift.

"I guess…" Edward accepted the melon, his eyes a little wide in shock at the simplicity. When he realized he'd been given a gift from the leader of his country, he jumped and spoke again, "Gah! Thank you, sir!"

"I understand you've been checking up on some of the senior staff. Is this true, Major Armstrong?" He asked. The Major grew a little more tense, looking over at the fuhrer nervously.

"Uh… Yes… sir. But, uh… how did you know I was-?"

"You should know that nothing gets past me, Major." The Fuhrer said, turning his head to meet Armstrong with his green eye, which seemed startlingly sharp in that moment to Amelia. He turned back to Edward, "And now you, my revered Fullmetal Alchemist." Edward gulped and stood a little stiffer, "Tell me what you know about the Philosopher's Stone." Edward's expression grew pale as he looked up at him, "And I hope for your sake that you don't know too much." He loomed over Edward, who looked tiny in comparison to Fuhrer King Bradley, and he felt like it, too. Tension filled the room and put everyone on edge. Amelia could feel her insides twisting in nervousness, everyone was silent for what felt like hours, even though it was only a couple of seconds.

The Fuhrer smiled, and then boisterously laughed, leaving everyone in the room a little confused, "I'm only kidding!" He said through his laughs, and he smiled at Edward, putting his hand on his shoulder, "There's no reason for you to be so uptight." Amelia begged to differ.

"Huh…?" Was the only response Edward could get out.

"I know there's been some suspicious activity within the military lately," The Fuhrer continued, pulling his hand back to his side, "And I believe it's necessary for something to be done about it." He turned to the table that bore all of Edward's drawings, as well as Armstrong's investigation notes that he had compiled of those who had worked in the Fifth Laboratory. It was the first thing the fuhrer reached for.

"Oh! Uh, that's just- uh…" The major wasn't sure what to say, fumbling over his words as the Fuhrer turned the pages of the compiled documents.

"A list of the research team assigned to study the Philosopher's Stone." Fuhrer Bradley finished his sentence for him as he looked over the names on the list, "Every person in this document has been reported missing." Armstrong couldn't help taking in a small gasp at the news, "They all vanished several days before the Fifth Laboratory collapsed. It seems the enemy is always one step ahead of us. Even with my vast network of informants, I have no way to determine how far our ranks have been infiltrated. The most we know about them is that they know a  _lot_  about us."

"In that case, this is proving much more dangerous than we imagined," Hughes said, starting to see more of this situation now that the Fuhrer had spoken of it.

Fuhrer Bradley hummed in thought as he put down the documents where he had found them, turning to Armstrong, "Major Armstrong," He faced Hughes, "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," He turned to Edward and Alphonse, "Elric brothers, you've all proven yourselves to be men of a trustworthy character. From this point forward I'm giving you the direct order to forget this matter and all that it concerns." He spoke with a stern, serious expression, "At this time, suspicion is our strongest line of offense, and our only form of defense is discretion. Do not trust anyone. Keep this to yourselves at all costs." He smiled, "However when I deem the time is right to confront the enemy, I expect you to be prepared to join me in the effort."

"Sir!" Armstrong and Hughes saluted him, showing their support for his plan.

"And as for you, Miss Amelia," He said, turning to the girl in question, "I expect you understand there are consequences in place if you speak of this to anyone? You've been let in on some very dangerous information. It's in your best interest to stay as quiet as possible."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Amelia couldn't agree more with the idea that she stay as far out of it as she could. The Fuhrer looked at her and noticed something.

"Is there a reason you're in handcuffs?" He asked, "I expected those to be removed once you were under Major Armstrong's custody."

"Oh, um…" She looked down at them, "They're just… security measures." She said, unsure of how to answer.

"Security measures against a young girl like yourself?" He let out a small chuckle at the idea, turning to the Major, "Go ahead and release her, Major. From what I understand, she's been a model student recently. I see no reason to keep her restrained."

"Uh, yes, sir." Armstrong couldn't deny a direct order from the leader of the country, turning to Amelia, he pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the wooden cuffs. Amelia rubbed her wrists, feeling a little relief now that her hands were freed.

"Where is he?!" A voice shouted from beyond the hospital door, "Has Fuhrer Bradley been through here?!"

At the sound, the Fuhrer quickly saluted the Major and Lieutenant Colonel before saying, "Gotta go!" He muttered under his breath as he walked towards the window of Edward's room, "Damn bodyguard thinks he's my shadow…" He opened it up and everyone watched as he climbed onto the windowsill, one foot out the other side. It wasn't dangerous for him, since Edward was on the first floor, just near a courtyard in the middle of hospital property. He turned back at them with a jovial smile, "You see, I've snuck away to get a few minutes of privacy. Well, farewell for now!" He gave them a brief wave before climbing out the window, the group moving a little closer to it as they watched him walk down the courtyard path with his hands casually behind his back as if there was nothing wrong.

The door opened once more, with Winry greeting them on the other side, "Hey, Ed-! What the…?" She stopped when she saw everyone looking shocked and a little tired as if a weight had been put on all their shoulders. "What's going on? Did I miss something?"

"Not really… Just a tornado passing by." Edward responded.

Winry didn't really know how to respond to that, so she brushed it off as she closed the door behind her, coming up to Edward with a pair of train tickets, "Well, I don't think there's anything I can do about that, but I did go and buy the train tickets you asked for." She said.

"Thanks, just in time," Edward said, taking them from her.

"You sure are a man on the move, aren't you?" Armstrong marveled, "Your wounds haven't even healed completely."

"Yeah, well two days of sick people and hospital food is enough for me, thanks," Edward said.

"Really? And here I thought you seemed right at home around here." Amelia said and was met with a sharp glare from Edward, his fist clenching around the tickets that Winry had given him. Hughes, knowing that the station might not take them if they were too wrinkled, got him to let go and let him take a look at where the two brothers were headed.

"And where are you heading off to, this time?" He quirked his brow as he looked at them, "What's in Dublith?"

"Well, with the way things have gone lately," Edward came up behind his brother, his flesh hand knocking against the metal as he pat his back, "Al and I decided we should go back and visit our old teacher." Al's armor started to clink and shake, and everyone looked up from the noise.

"I think I'm too scared, brother…!" He said, turning around to face him, still trembling from his fear, "There's no way she's  _not_  gonna kill us!"

"Look, don't you chicken out on me now!" Edward said, his expression showing his anxiety towards the situation, grasping at his younger brother's hands in solidarity of their shared fear of their teacher, "I'm scared, too, okay?!"

"What exactly does this person teach…?" Winry asked, a little concerned at their extreme reactions.

"It appears you have a rather lengthy journey ahead of you." Armstrong said, "Dublith is quite a ways away."

"How far  _is_  Dublith?" Winry asked.

"Well… let's see…" Al went over to a wall, which had a framed map of Amestris. Amelia had seen it a lot in other hospital rooms, but she wasn't sure why. She guessed when people didn't have GPS, they always wanted to look at a map to see where they were going. "There it is." Alphonse pointed to a dot a ways south of Central, "All the way down here." Winry let out a hum as she took a closer look, seeing how many towns Alphonse and Edward were going to pass before something caught her eye. She let out a sudden gasp at the sight of it that shocked everyone in the room.

"W-What is it?" Edward asked, now concerned for her.

"That! Right there! Right before Dublith!" She said, pointing to the town above Dublith on the map, "It's the  _holy land_  of automail engineering! It's Rush Valley!" She turned to Edward with stars in her eyes and an excited smile, waving her hands in her excitement jumping up and down like a little kid, "We have to go! We have to go! We have to go!  _You have to take me!_ "

"Yeah, whatever. I don't have to take you anywhere." Edward brushed it off, immediately killing Winry's enthusiasm and she frowned, stepping up to him, leaning over him as she scowled at him.

"Well  _somebody_  has to pay for my travel fare!" She said.

"Why does it have to be  _me?!_ " Ed asked in turn.

Not wanting a fight to start, Al intervened, "Come on, Brother. What's the big deal? It's on our way."

"Only if you want to, Al." Edward conceded, crossing his arms.

Winry squealed with delight at knowing she could go with them, "Yay!" She rushed to the door, opening it up, turning back over her shoulder to say, "I've got to call and tell Grandma!" She left the room in silence with the four men and Amelia.

Hughes put his hand on Edward's shoulder and said in a serious voice, "She'll make you a fine wife someday."

"Don't start that again!" Edward growled out, clearly fed up with the joke.

Hughes only laughed sheepishly, smiling, "I would rather talk about my wife, anyway." Edward's expression deadpanned.

"Like any woman in her right mind would marry you, anyway," Amelia said, crossing her arms as she stood. Edward turned to her.

"And just what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you have a temper that's out of control. I hate to see what happens when she calls you small, and you assume she means your height."

Edward's face exploded into a bright red blush, his voice cracking as he exclaimed, " _What the hell?!_ "

"I mean, really," Amelia continued, feeling a bit of a streak coming on, "With the way you act around me, I feel sad for the poor girl. You'd probably punch her lights out before she could tell you what she meant."

"I would  _never_  do that!" Edward snapped at her.

"You've tried to deck me like five times!" Amelia snapped back.

"That's because you keep pissing me off!"

"I keep  _pissing you off_  because you can't control your fucking temper! You blow up over the tiniest things!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO TINY HE COULD FALL IN A CRACK IN THE SIDEWALK?!"

"I didn't say that, you dense son of a bitch!"

"Amelia!" The two stopped when Armstrong's booming voice interrupted the conversation, "That is enough. It is true that Edward has his temper, but you continue to antagonize him."

"Not my fault he makes it so easy," Amelia replied. Armstrong gave her a glare, and she couldn't help but shrink under it a little. She knew he brought her here in the hopes of making the brothers feel a little at ease, and this wasn't helping. She sighed and relented, "Fine..." She looked back at Edward, "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it."

Edward didn't say anything until Alphonse said, "Brother." Edward looked back at the suit of armor, and he sighed as well.

"Okay, I'm sorry, too." They both sounded like reluctant children. "Al wants us to get along better because he thinks you're a nice person."

Amelia let out a small scoffing laugh at the ridiculous thought, "Okay." The reaction wasn't lost on Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, but he said nothing about it.

"We should get to work on what investigations we can manage." Hughes said, turning to Armstrong, "I'll still do some looking into a few things, but we need to be as quiet as possible."

"Of course, sir." Armstrong said, "I'll finish with Amelia's alchemical training and then I will return to the office." Hughes nodded and saluted Armstrong, who returned the gesture before he started to leave, Amelia following behind him.

"Oh, Major," Alphonse's voice stopped him, "Do you think you can give Ed, Winry and I a ride to the train station in a couple hours?"

"It would be my pleasure, Alphonse." The Major said, "It should be just enough time to finish your training Amelia."

"Great, does that mean I have to share a car with them?" She asked, "Because all that leather that blonde moron wears stinks."

"Hey!" Edward snapped at her comment, and she stuck her tongue out immaturely at him in response. Armstrong sighed tiredly and put his hand on Amelia's shoulder, pushing her along out of the room, leaving the Elric brothers and Hughes behind.

"How in the hell does Armstrong manage to deal with that girl?" Edward asked, scowling after her, his arms crossed.

"Oh, I don't think she's as bad as you think she is." Hughes said, "I think your brother's right. Amelia is a good person, at her core. It seems she just has an affinity for making herself unlikeable."

"What would she do that for?" Edward asked.

"I suppose I'll find out eventually." Hughes said before he left the room, "You should rest up before you go. I'm sure the doctors won't let you leave without making sure you're okay to travel."

* * *

After a couple of hours of alchemy training, Amelia was allowed back out with Armstrong. After having the fuhrer comment on her handcuffs, she didn't wear them anymore, though she imagined Fuhrer Bradley didn't read the report on her recent escape attempt. He would probably request that she be locked up again, so she would enjoy her freedom while she could. She learned about transmutations, her skills with making different objects slowly getting better. She was starting to learn to make more complex things, like tiny statues of different animals, or herself. She preferred to make a tiny version of herself instead of a tiny version of her teacher, mostly because she didn't want him to model for it (Seriously, this man had a problem with keeping his shirt on).

Once they were in the car, they went straight to the hospital where Edward walked out with his brother and Winry, dressed in his usual clothes instead of the hospital scrubs he had been given. Amelia made room for all of them in the car, finding a place to squeeze herself off to the side as she sat with Winry and Edward, while Alphonse sat up front with the Major.

"God, you're wearing that nasty look again?" She asked Edward, "Red and black is such a horrible combination, why the hell do you wear it?"

"Why the hell don't you shut up?" He snapped back. "I happen to look awesome like this."

"Oh, _please._  You looked better in the hospital scrubs."

"Yeah? Well how about I put  _you_  in the hospital so you can wear those clothes and see what it's like, huh?" Edward growled out.

"Oh, bring it on! I can take you any day!" Amelia replied, thinking she was calling his bluff. He really didn't seem the type to get into a fight with a woman. She was proven wrong when she felt something hard hitting the back of her head, and she and Edward cried out in pain as they were hit at the same time.

"Both of you, knock it off!" Winry said from her seat in between them. "Do you really want to spend your last moments in Central fighting with someone, Ed?"

"Maybe. It would make me feel better to smack that smug tone out of you." Edward said.

"And I could smack some fashion sense into that thick head of yours," Amelia responded in kind.

"Just what is it that you have against Edward, anyway?" Winry asked her, "Did he do something to you?"

"What?" Amelia was a little surprised at the question.

"What did Edward do to you that was so bad that you have to poke at him like that?" Winry asked.

"Well… uh, nothing, I guess, but-"

"If it was nothing, then you should stop bullying him." Winry said, "Ed has his reasons for wearing his clothes just like you do for yours." She turned to Edward, "And you should stop getting so fired up. I'm sure that a big part of why she's picking on you is because she thinks your reactions are funny." Amelia was silent, her lips kept shut in a mix of shame and spite as she rubbed at the forming bump where Winry had hit her. Edward seemed to be the same, glancing over at Amelia, only for her to glare back at him and returned the gesture. "Do you two always fight like this?"

"Pretty much since they met." Alphonse chimed in. Winry frowned as she looked at the pair.

"Amelia, I think you should apologize." The girl looked back at Winry with wide eyes.

"What?! No!" She looked back at him, "His clothes are gaudy as hell! I'm not about to apologize for saying something that's true!"

"Screw you!" Edward snapped back.

"Oh, in your  _dreams_." Amelia scoffed, leaving Edward with a bright red blush on his cheeks.

"You're saying it to make him mad." Winry brought them back to the subject, "It doesn't matter whether you like it or not, you should learn to get along with someone like Edward considering he's your senior." Edward grinned as he realized that same information.

"He is  _not_ , he's  _my_  age," Amelia said.

"No, she's right." Edward said, and Amelia glared at the smug grin on his face, "I'm a fully certified alchemist. You're not, and you need to be. I'm superior to you."

"Oh, the  _fuck_  you are…!" Amelia growled out, leaning forward, only to be pushed back by Winry's hand.

"No more fighting. Alphonse told me that you're planning to take the alchemist's exam, so I don't think it would be so awful for you to get help from someone like Ed." Amelia hated that Winry was right, but she was. The blonde then turned to Edward, "And you shouldn't lord that seniority over her, either, Ed."

"What the hell did I do?" Edward asked, surprised that she was turning this around on him. "She started it!"

"And you're only making it worse by keeping it going." Winry scolded him, "You shouldn't be trying to knock down the people who are looking for help."

"She has help with the Major!" Edward pointed out.

"And you're the same age that she is!" Winry said in return, "You're one of her peers, whether you like it or not. Even if she's not out to break your record for youngest state alchemist, she could still use help." Edward crossed his arms and muttered under his breath irritably. Winry scowled at him, turning back to Amelia, who crossed her arms and looked away from her. "So I think you both could stand to act like adults and apologize."

"Yeah, right." Edward scoffed.

"Edward," Winry spoke his name in a firm tone that spoke of a punishment waiting for him if he didn't comply, though what exactly that punishment is was something that Amelia was unaware of.

Edward sighed reluctantly and turned to face Amelia, "Fine. I'm sorry I acted like a jerk."

Winry turned to Amelia expectantly, and she could feel her mouth twisting in a way that it was trying to seal itself shut. She really didn't want to apologize, but when Edward was the bigger person and apologized… she didn't want to look like a petulant child by refusing to apologize, "Okay… I'm sorry I said all that stuff about you."

"And you both promise to act better towards each other, right?" Winry said, and the two of them nodded half-heartedly, muttering out reluctant words of agreement and Winry smiled. "Good."

It wasn't much longer after that they reached the train station, and Amelia walked alongside her teacher as they met up with a woman and her child. Edward's grumpy mood brought on by what happened in the car brightened a little bit when he heard the little girl call out, "Big brother!" And started to run towards them.

"Hey, Elicia!" Edward called out to her, ready to hug her, but she went right around him to hug at Alphonse's leg, which made him laugh. He frowned a little as he realized that Elicia still thought that Alphonse was the older one because he was taller than him, which was just irritating. Elicia looked up at Edward and his frown, which made her pout at him a little.

"It's okay! Hugs for little brother, too!" She said as she came over to him, and sighed as he reached down to pick her up.

"Elicia, I told you  _I'm_  the big brother, remember?" He said. "Alphonse is the little brother."

"Or she could just mean your size." Amelia chimed in, Edward gave her a glare, but he didn't say anything since Elicia pulled his face back to her to poke at the new scar on his forehead that he got from the fifth laboratory. Amelia got elbowed by the Major and she scowled up at him, "I didn't say anything bad." Armstrong gave her a look that told her he knew she was lying by making that subtle poke about Edward's height when she knew it bothered him, and she turned away. She glanced at the little girl, a little surprised that she recognized her face, and she remembered Hughes shoving pictures of his daughter into her face not too long ago.

She looked over at the woman that shared Elicia's hair and eyes and put together the pieces pretty quickly. She and Elicia both had round cheeks, and smiles that spoke of a sweet nature and kind hearts. Mrs. Hughes came forward to Amelia with a sweet smile of her own, "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Gracia Hughes." She said, holding out her hand, "I don't think we've met."

"I'm Amelia Seymour," She introduced herself, shaking her hand, "I have no idea if your husband's talked about me at all or not."

"Oh, actually he has." Gracia's smile brightened, "He said you're quite the interesting character. You look almost exactly like I pictured you." Amelia was a little surprised to hear that Hughes had been describing her well enough that his wife got a picture of her in her head.

"Well, you look exactly like your husband's pictures of you, so I guess we're even." She joked, the two of them sharing some small chuckles. Gracia turned her attention to Edward and Alphonse as they came up, reaching to take Elicia from Edward's arms.

"Maes had to catch up on some work, so he couldn't be here to see you off with us." She explained as she picked up her toddler, who gladly clung to her mother. "So I'm here to see you off, and Winry, too." She smiled at the blonde girl, who returned the gesture and came over to Elicia.

"Big Sissy! Come back soon, okay?" Elicia said, reaching for Winry and she gave her hand for Elicia to hold onto.

"Okay, I promise to come back and visit real soon," Winry said with a smile, and Elicia cheered happily.

The train whistle blew, and that was their cue to hurry and get on before the train left. Amelia watched as her teacher saluted the train car as it slowly left the station, with Elicia and Gracia waving goodbye to Winry, who stuck her arm out the window for them. Amelia didn't wave, or smile, or salute. There wasn't really much reason to, so she watched the train depart until it went over a hill and out of sight.

"Well, I should return to work as well," Armstrong said, bidding goodbye to Gracia and Elicia, who made their way home from the station. "I'll drop you off at the estate, Amelia."

"Wait, um…" Amelia wanted to take a little advantage of the fact that she was outside again, "Why don't I come with you to work?" Armstrong's brow raised in surprise, but his look quickly became suspicious, "Oh, come on. What harm could it do? I can get in some extra alchemy training and stuff, and you can look up the whole ouroboros junk or whatever. I won't get in the way." He didn't look convinced, "Maybe I can help? It's not like I'm able to do anything, I don't know what the linoleum in the floor is made out of, or the plaster on the walls. Come on, I don't know when the next time I'm going to be out of your house is, please?" He sighed a little as she pleaded with him, finding it hard to say no to his young student, even when he's supposed to be disciplining her.

"Very well." He relented and Amelia smiled brightly at the thought that she would get to stay outside a little longer. She wanted to take advantage of it every time she had the chance since she doubted she would be outside very often. "But I will keep a very close eye on you."

"That's fine with me, so long as I get to be somewhere other than your house," Amelia said, the pair walking towards the car.

* * *

Amelia went back to Central Headquarters with the Major, who was given his own caseloads to deal with once he arrived. Since most of it seemed to be petty things like accusations from angry neighbors about property, and some graffiti charges, he handed it over to Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh to deal with as he looked more into the higher up staff, to see their roles in Ishval, as well as any other skirmishes or wars they were involved in. Amelia was mostly just in charge of making sure none of the papers fell, though she did a little reading herself. "This General Raven guy sure is altruistic." She said after reading over some of his file, her words making the Major lift his head.

"General Raven is rather well-known for such behavior," He said.

"Yeah, but I can't think that it's very smart for him to go right on the front lines as a commanding officer." She said, "That's like putting your king in the same line as your pawns in chess." She put the paper back where she had found it.

The Major chuckled, "One of his most common criticisms. He takes it very personally when he's berated for his bleeding heart."

"I bet." Amelia sighed a little bit, "Just how many of these generals do you think it is?" She asked him, "I mean, there are the guys that are killing to make more philosopher's stones somewhere in all this paper, but how many of them were just guys doing what they thought was best and guys doing it with a motive?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." The Major said, and Amelia looked back at General Raven's folder.

"Well, how many of them have any background in alchemy?" She asked, "I mean, that might be a good start." The Major looked down at the paper, his brow furrowing, "Think about it, you start up a lab to make the stone, you must know how to do it, only an alchemist would know how to even start with making one, right? Like, a big-time master alchemist or something." The major's eyes widened.

"I can't believe I didn't…" He stood up, "I'll need to get different papers. That did not even cross my mind!" He stopped when he went to the door, and Amelia had stood up to follow him. He looked back at her over his shoulder, "I'll need to go to the recruitment offices to find the papers I need."

"Okay, so let's go." She said with a shrug.

"Military clearance is required to enter, civilians are strictly prohibited." He turned around to face her, "But I can't very well leave you alone in the hands of another guard."

"Why not?"

"The last time I did was at the Tucker residence, and he let you walk away." She frowned a little at his reasoning, but she had to admit that it wasn't baseless…

"Well if you can't do that, then what are you going to do?" She asked, and he already seemed to be forming a solution in his mind.

* * *

Amelia grumbled as she sat in the chair, just next to Lieutenant Colonel Hughes as he took documents that were being written fiercely by a mousy-looking girl just across from him. She looked exhausted and pale, but she didn't do anything to stop her writing as she wrote out one line after another. Amelia had been placed in the Lieutenant Colonel's care until the Major came back from the recruitment offices. She didn't care for it, though she found it odd that he was simply reading the newspaper while the girl across from him worked her butt off. She hadn't been introduced to her, she had been writing like this when she came in, and the Lieutenant Colonel didn't mention her name or do anything to take her attention away from her work.

"There!" The woman said with a sigh, "That makes investigation documents for the Eli Hausfeld case." She said, grouping up her papers and handing them over to the Lieutenant Colonel, who smiled as he took them, "Should I get started on the next case file?"

"No, Sheska. I think you've earned a little break." He said with a smile, and the woman who was apparently named Sheska let out a sigh and collapsed on the desk, looking completely exhausted. "Yeah, just a little fifteen minute one and then you can start on the next case file." He stood up, "I'll get the log books for you." He said and headed over to a bookshelf not too far from him to pull out a book with a blank binder and bring it back over to her, placing it on top of the other five that were present already. Sheska said nothing as she seemed to just relax with her break.

"You sure are a slave driver," Amelia commented as she looked at the poor woman.

"Only because the rest of the investigations department is breathing down my neck for those case files we lost in the library fire," Hughes said as he sat down again. Amelia's brow furrowed in confusion as to how Sheska was fixing the lost files and he explained, "Sheska can remember everything she's ever read verbatim. She happened to work at the first branch not too long ago, and she read our files. So now she's copying them for a very generous salary."

"And suddenly I'm very glad I don't have a photographic memory," Amelia said to herself as she looked at the exhausted woman, who couldn't have been too much older than herself, maybe her early twenties. "I'd hate to be in your position." Sheska didn't respond more than a half-hearted raising of her hand before she went back to relaxing. She looked back at the Lieutenant Colonel, "So how far away is the recruitment office from here?"

"Well, it depends on which one you're going to," Hughes said, "There's one here in the building, but there's also one out by the library, and another over on the other side of town - we keep it for any immigrating folks."

"Great…" Amelia sighed, knowing there were three offices in three different locations meant she was going to be here a while.

"What's the matter?" Hughes grinned, "Feeling a little upset?"

"You're essentially my parole officer," She replied, "I'm not exactly comfortable hanging out with you."

Hughes rested his face on the heel of his palm, his elbow resting on the table as he turned to face her in his seat, "Is that how you see me? I'm hardly a parole officer, I just keep tabs on you."

"Yeah, you keep tabs on me to make sure I'm not doing anything to violate my parole." Amelia said, "I'm pretty much on parole anyway since I was wrongly arrested for what I did."

"Well, I suppose consistency is key for lying," Hughes replied and chuckled a little when Amelia stuck out her tongue with a furrowed brow in response. "Well, if you're my parolee, you're one of the most interesting ones I've had."

"How's that?" She asked, bringing her arms up to the table and resting her chin on top of them.

"Well, you're an interesting personality from what I can tell so far." He said, "You come off as abrasive and unempathetic, but I think that's just a front for something else." She scoffed.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Maybe for some vulnerable, scared little kid that's hiding inside." Amelia openly laughed at that.

"Ha! Yeah, I'm some  _terrified wittle baby_  under all the sarcasm!" She laughed and leaned back in her seat, "Get real. Is that seriously your psychological diagnosis of me?"

"I think a part of you craves approval," Hughes continued, "Which is why you do so well with Armstrong and his alchemy lessons. Maybe that's because you didn't really get a lot of approval from another adult figure in your life?" Amelia still smiled, though she didn't like where it was going, "I think that abrasive attitude is more of a defense mechanism, so you don't have to deal with the rejection you felt when you didn't get that approval and attention you were seeking as a kid."

"That seems dumb." She replied simply. Hughes quirked a brow, knowing he had hit a point if she wasn't openly laughing at his thoughts. "Why would I be an asshole if I wanted to be surrounded by people who like me? Honestly, if I wanted that, I could get it easily."

"So you're saying you  _want_  to be a jerk?" Hughes asked, and she glared at him.

"This isn't a therapy session."

"You're right, just humor my curiosity for a while." Hughes said, "Why do you want to be a jerk?"

"Because it's fun." Amelia said, "I think it's funny to see people get all worked up over a few words. People are more likely to value the opinion of a stranger than a family member or a friend. A friend is biased, they already like you. A stranger is blunt and honest, and when they don't like you? It's funny to see them act up."

"So you're just a jerk because you can be. Absolutely no reason for it at all?" Hughes asked.

"Yeah." Hughes's smile stayed on his face.

"I think you're a lousy liar." He said, "I think at your core, you're a person that wants to be accepted and liked, and will always do the right thing when placed with that kind of moral dilemma, even if it means risking your own skin."

"As if I'd ever." Amelia scoffed.

"So that incident with Scar and the Elric brothers?" Amelia paused at the mention of it, "That wasn't done out of any sense of good will?"

"I was scared." She said simply, "Triggered my fight or flight response. The way out was blocked, so the next option was fight."

"Scar wasn't looking to kill you, just Edward." Hughes said, "You could have easily run away from him if you had the chance." Amelia frowned and glared at him.

"You listen here." She said, tapping decidedly on the wood of the table, "I am  _not_  a good person. I'm a jerk and I do it for fun, I'm selfish and I look after me and to hell with everybody else. Your idea of me is wrong, and you're stupid for thinking that I would be some nice girl that just does what she's told because she wants everyone to like her. I couldn't care less what people think of me, all that matters is what  _I_  think of  _them!_  Everyone loses their damn minds when someone doesn't like them unless they learn to toughen up and accept the fact that there will always be someone out there that doesn't like you for no good reason."

"Like you did?" Hughes asked.

"Yes!" Amelia replied without thinking of the implication of what she said, and she stopped when she did, "B-But that doesn't mean I'm like this because I didn't get approval from my parents, so don't you think that it is!"

"You know, I never actually mentioned your parents," Hughes said, and Amelia's face flushed as she realized she had proven him right.

"Oh, shut up." She grumbled, crossing her arms and looking away from him. Hughes only smiled and sat up straight.

"I get it if you don't want to talk about it." He said, "It's a touchy subject, and like you said, I'm just a parole officer. Not a therapist." He reached for the newspaper, looking over the articles in it, "You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to."

"Then why did you try to start a conversation?" She asked, still frowning at him.

"I suppose… I just did it because it's fun." He said, making a jab at what she said earlier about why she chose to be mean. It only deepened Amelia's scowl and she turned away from him. The room was only silent for a moment before the door opened again and someone else came in, "Ah, Captain Focker." The man with dark sepia colored skin smiled at Hughes as he held up the paper, "Is that my evening edition?"

"Right off the presses." Captain Focker said as he came over to give the paper to the Lieutenant Colonel. Hughes opened it up to the front page, where the Captain looked over at the exhausted girl, "Sheska, you really shouldn't have agreed to work such long hours…" He said with a pitiful sigh.

Amelia glanced over at the paper, reading the main headline on the front page, where apparently Hughes was looking into another article in another spot. She tilted her head to read it properly, reading the title out loud, "Violence in The East Could Spread Throughout." She looked up at Hughes, "What's that one about?"

Captain Focker answered her, "It's about the recent riots that have been coming out of the city of Lior lately. It hasn't been pretty, the military's been called in to try and quiet things down. It's apparently all in response to a sham religion that was preying on the townspeople. They finally realized they were being suckered."

"Oh damn." Amelia could see why they were rioting. Their beliefs suddenly uprooted, people had a hard time dealing with that, especially when their idea of the afterlife suddenly became a wrong one.

"Yeah… Ishval and Lior. The east has been a real hotbed lately." Hughes said. Amelia's brow quirked at the mention of the other place that had been through a war.

"I thought Ishval was, like, years ago?" She asked.

"Not too long, only about 7 or 8 years ago since the troops were recalled." Hughes said, "Though, that was mostly because there wasn't much left of Ishval to fight after four years of war."

"I'm afraid it's not just the east." Focker interjected, "There have been reports of uprisings in the north and west as well."

"The bodies are piling up all over. The government's going to have a hard time keeping control at this rate." Hughes said, with something of a resigned tone in his voice, though as he looked at the article, which bore a picture of a map of the country to show where the violence was happening, he couldn't help but think of something. Something about this nagged at him, this information of recent wars, and still more going on… He needed more information. He stood up from his seat, "Amelia, come with me."

"What?" She stood up with him, a little confused about why they were suddenly leaving, "What about the Major?"

"Colonel Hughes? Is something wrong?" Focker asked, a little confused by the man's actions as well as he went to the door with Amelia following.

"Sheska, if the Major comes looking for Amelia, tell him we're in the archive room." He said to the girl, who sat up straight at the mention of her name, and nodded compliantly, though she didn't understand what was going on. The pair of them left and Amelia followed Hughes down the hall as they headed to the archive room.

"Why are we suddenly going to the archives?" She asked, "Is something up?"

"With everything that's going on in the east, and what we've found out from the Elric brothers, something's bugging me about the military's ties to it." He said, and Amelia quickened her pace a little to walk beside him.

"You mean the Philosopher's Stone?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Right, we know the military was involved in the prisons to make the ones used by the military before." Hughes said, "But I need more information than what I have now." He turned into a pair of heavy double doors and walked inside, Amelia following behind him, "Do you think you can look through those shelves over there? See if you can find any information from the years 1889 to 1903."

"Uh, okay." She went over to look through some of the shelves, looking over the marked binders that were thankfully labeled with information by year and had varying levels of thickness. She pulled out the ones for the years he mentioned and she came back to see he had already gathered some more, as well as a map of Amestris that he laid out on the table. She watched as he flipped through the binders in silence, not saying a word, at least none that she could hear. A lot of what he did say was just mutterings to himself as he looked at different information. This went on for about five minutes before Amelia realized she needed to address some urgent business, "Um, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes? Do you know where the bathroom is? I have to pee."

He didn't glance up as he said, "Down the hall, first door on your right, we passed it on the way here. If you're not back in five minutes, I'll go in there and grab you." Amelia grimaced a little at the thought, but she figured it was his way of making sure she made it back so he could keep an eye on her.

"Okay, weirdo…" She said under her breath, leaving him to go over his research as she went on in search of her quick bathroom break.

Hughes was completely focused on the map in front of him as he looked over the various binders, looking at every mention of riots, uprisings, skirmishes, every event where the military had been involved in the last 50 or so years. There was a startling amount, but as he looked over everything, he couldn't help but see a pattern in who had approved what in regards to sending the military out.

"Lior…" He circled the town on the map, muttering to himself, "These endless uprisings… The Philosopher's Stone… Human sacrifices…" With so many bodies piling up, it would be easy to make a Philosopher's stone from that, wouldn't it? And prisoners of war weren't often well-documented in the field, they could have been used as well, undocumented and unregistered. "And the outright genocide of the Ishvalan people…" He was starting to see a pattern, especially in the commanding officers that oversaw most of these events, it wasn't just one General or higher up officer. It was almost all of the Central-based Generals, members of Bradley's cabinet. And with all of these uprisings and so many wars, what else could these powerful men be doing with so many bodies? He picked up the map and looked at it closely, "This means… How could this even happen?" He asked himself, starting to recognize a pattern in just those few years. It was surprisingly… calculated for random wars and uprisings, "Who could have orchestrated something as terrible as this?" He wasn't sure who was the one in charge of the higher-ups, but they were definitely after something to make their own Philosopher's stone using the people of Amestris. If it went on, it could only get worse. "I've got to tell the Fuhrer right away."

He stopped when his source of light from the hallway was suddenly cut off by a door slam. He looked up, expecting to see Amelia, but instead saw a voluptuous woman in a deep-cut dress, and a very recognizable ouroboros tattoo on her chest.

"Hello Lieutenant Colonel, it's nice to meet you." She spoke in a breathy tone of voice, "Well, actually… 'Hello' isn't really the word I'm looking for." She held up her hand, and he could see her fingers extending into rather sharp-looking nails, even in the dim light of the archives.

* * *

Amelia sighed as she came out of the stall and went to wash her hands. It was nice to get a little bit of privacy when she was constantly monitored, though it didn't last long. She ran her fingers under the warm water, thinking about what the Lieutenant Colonel had said about her earlier. She didn't want to think that her relationship with her parents was that obvious, but he was a member of the investigations department. He was probably trained to pick up behavior and things like that when investigating criminals or serial killers like the police did back home.

She looked up at her reflection, looking at her face, her skin, her brown eyes, her brown hair. Everything about her looked as normal as she remembered, but at the same time, she remembered looking in a mirror when she was younger, calling herself a failure for getting second place. It hadn't been enough, silver wasn't good enough for what she wanted, it had to be gold for her mother. She wore it enough to know it was her favorite kind of metal, though Amelia berated herself for not knowing that in the beginning at the time. She sighed as she looked back down at her hands as she washed them with soap.

The lieutenant colonel was a good man from what she had seen, definitely not like her own father. He treasured his daughter like she was the greatest thing in the world, if he acted like this at work, she could only imagine how smothering he was at home. He probably encouraged his daughter at every turn, always telling her he loved her, he seemed like the kind that would play with his kid just to see them smile. It would be good for his daughter to have a dad like that, she would probably grow up to do a lot of good things for the right reasons, not just doing them because she wanted her dad to like her.

She turned off the sink and went to wipe her hands dry on the paper towels. She needed to get out of her head and get back to the archive room before he pulled her out of here. He only gave her five minutes after all. She didn't want him to just yank her out like she was imagining. She stepped out of the bathroom and headed back down the hall, seeing the archive room door open, but something else seemed out of place. She looked down at the floor and saw little red spots, and there was a huge red stain on the floor, with a big red smear on the wall.

"Is that blood…?" She asked, and she jumped when she heard footsteps, going to hide behind one of the wall pillars as she heard heels clicking along the floor. Those weren't men's shoes, she knew that sound well enough. She saw someone walking out of the archive room, peeking out from behind the pillar. It was a woman in a dark dress with long, dark curls cascading down her rather shapely back. She turned her head and Amelia could see her face had blood on it, watching as she sighed exasperatedly.

"I don't think I'm the type to handle it from here." She said into the air, "Go ahead and tell Envy to follow after the Lieutenant Colonel. I can't follow him when I'm filthy like this." She said, and turned around to wipe at some of the blood from her face with her gloved hand. Amelia ducked behind the pillar so she would avoid being seen, but she felt her blood run cold at the one thing she had seen on the woman before she hid herself. She had a tattoo on her chest, of a snake eating its own tail. She was part of that group from the fifth lab! And she had done something to the Lieutenant Colonel! She pressed her back up against the wall as she listened for the sound of heeled shoes clicking against the ground, and was relieved to hear them going farther away from where she was. When they were quiet enough, she poked her head out from behind the pillar, and saw she was gone. She looked down at the ground again, seeing the blood trail.

"Oh, no…" She moved out from her hiding spot, looking inside the archive room to see it was empty of anyone, so she started to follow down the trail of blood drops that went down the hall, opposite the way the woman had gone.

* * *

Lust continued down the hall, hearing Pride's whispers as his shadow hung around the corners of the wall, "You missed a witness, Lust." He chided her. "Armstrong's little pupil just saw you leaving."

"Did she?" Lust didn't realize she had even been in the room, "Well, I'm sure Envy can take care of that as well."

"We can't kill them both at the same time, it would draw too much attention." Pride said, "We might scare off the Elric brothers if they find out the people that were investigating us suddenly died. We can't have them leaving the country." Lust turned a corner to the elevator, pressing the button on the wall as she wiped her face clean of blood, her wound from Hughes' knife already healed.

"What are you suggesting?" Lust asked.

"Go back to the archive room." Pride said, "Put away some of the binders, but not all of them. We can't have anyone figuring out what he did. Not too soon, anyway." Lust let out a small hum as she glanced back down the hall.

"You're a big boy, I'm sure you can do that yourself." She said, "Besides, you're the smartest one of us, aren't you? You should know which binders will hide which facts."

"Fine, but head to the Armstrong manor." Pride ordered her, "Keep an eye on the girl. She'll be following the colonel soon enough. We need to make sure we know where she is at all times to find an opening. Her security is very tight."

"Duly noted." Lust said, watching the elevator doors open, and she stepped inside.

* * *

Hughes could feel his shoulder throbbing painfully from where he'd been stabbed, feeling the pressure from his hand gripping at it didn't help that at all, but it was all he could do short of going to a hospital. Still, he doubted that these people would let him get that far, he needed to tell who he could while he still could. He knew Mustang would be able to do more than he could in his condition. He went straight to the phone lines, seeing Corporal Roberta at her desk like she had been earlier when he had called to gush about Elicia to Mustang.

She heard him coming and looked back over her shoulder, "Oh my, you're back again already?" She asked with a joking tone, "Who gets to hear about your daughter this time…?" She trailed off as she got a better look at him, gasping at the sight of him, "Lieutenant Colonel, you're bleeding!"

"It's nothing." Hughes got out between clenched teeth, stumbling a bit in his footing as he went to the phones, "I need a private line." The corporal turned to the operator's line to wait for him to say who he wanted to call. "I have to tell him…" Hughes grabbed at the wooden handle of the phone, but he stopped. These were military-exclusive lines, and he had no doubt that Roberta would be able to hear what he said, not to mention anyone else that might have the lines tapped. No, no… he couldn't do it from here. They would know, and they would come after Roy, and everything he went through to get this far would be for nothing. He knew his friend, he wouldn't leave after being told all of this, he would be a strategist, try and work the system in his favor. He put the phone down and turned around, his hand going back to his bloody shoulder.

He started to walk back out past a confused and concerned Roberta, "Sorry… Forget I was here." He told her as he walked by.

"But…!  _Sir!_ " She called after him, but he only quickened his pace. He could already hear her going for the emergency lines, to call for an ambulance to come and take him to the hospital. He didn't need that right now, he needed to get to Roy before these people got to him. He had to hurry!

* * *

Amelia continued down the hall, following the blood trail to one corner, and pausing when she saw another trail beside the one she was following. She glanced around the corner, seeing the one she had been on went down to what looked like a line of booths of some kind, but then came right back. She could hear a woman's voice speaking to someone about injuries, describing a bloody shoulder, and Amelia grew more worried.

She looked down at the second trail on the floor, following it down another corner, and seeing it went right to an outside door that led out of Central Command. She glanced behind her, worrying a little bit that she could get in trouble for this, but she wasn't sure what else she could do, and if he was leaving this much blood behind… she could only imagine his wound was a terrible one. She didn't know what that woman had done, but she needed to make sure the Lieutenant Colonel was okay.

She went out the door into the night, following the dotted trail of blood to where it should have led to the Lieutenant Colonel.

* * *

Hughes waited as the line rang in the outside phone booth, hearing a female voice answering the line after one ring, "Good evening, Eastern Command."

"I need you to connect me to Colonel Mustang right away." He said.

"I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to connect from an outside line." The woman apologized.

"You are speaking to Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" He snapped into the phone, "And this is a matter of life and death!"

"Can I have your code please?" She asked, and he let out a frustrated grumble as he reached into his pocket for his book that had his emergency code inside.

"What?! Are you _trying_  to waste time?!" He pulled it out, along with the family picture of him, his wife, and his daughter, but he could leave that for the moment. He opened up his pocketbook and read out the code, "It's Uncle, Sugar, Oliver, then 8, 0, 0…!"

There was a pause before the woman said, "Your code was verified, please hold while I connect you."

"Will you hurry?!" He yelled into the phone, "It's an emergency!" He stopped when he heard the clicking of a gun and felt his blood run cold. He barely moved and glanced back, slowly turning his head to see a familiar, yet unfamiliar face standing behind him, pointing a gun at his back.

"I need to ask you to put down the receiver." Was it really Maria Ross? He wasn't sure, "Please, sir." He slowly turned around to face her, the phone still in his hand, "Go on. Just hang it up."

"You look just like…" He paused when he noticed a very significant difference, smirking a bit as he realized it was a trick, "But you're not. Who the hell are you, lady?"

"I'm Second Lieutenant Ross, sir." She answered with a small smile, confident. "You've lost too much blood."

"Drop the act already." Hughes said, taking a little pleasure in seeing that confident smile fall into a frown, "You're not Second Lieutenant Ross. She has a mole under her left eye!" These people made a mistake when they forced that disguise. The fake Ross behind him looked at him with wide eyes as he pointed it out, but their surprised expression quickly turned into a sickeningly malicious grin.

"You're observant." They spoke in a voice that was definitely not their perfect Maria Ross impression, "I can't believe I forgot." He watched as they brought their hand up to their cheek, watching as a mole appeared on their skin after a brief, tiny flash of light. "There, how do I look now?"

Hughes gasped as he realized he was up against something that was definitely not human, and he had no way out at this point. But he had to do what he could to fight back, feeling the knife he kept at his forearm waiting there for him to use.

* * *

Amelia looked down at the ground, following the trail of blood with the light from her phone since it had gotten too dark for her to see anything as she started to rush down the empty streets. She grew more and more worried as she looked at the trail, part of her mind telling her she should stop what she was doing and go back to Central, say that she needed to get help for the Lieutenant Colonel, but she had come too far at this point. People would say that she failed an escape again. That wasn't what mattered right now, she needed to make sure that the lieutenant colonel was okay after whatever attack just happened.

She stopped when she heard a loud popping. It reminded her vaguely of a firework, but she couldn't see anything going off. And she remembered reading once that the difference between fireworks going off and a gunshot was that fireworks had an echo to their loudness.

She didn't hear an echo.

"Shit…!" She started running faster until she got to an open park. She could have sworn she saw someone standing in front of a phone booth, but she blinked and she didn't see anything but a bird flying off. She rushed to the phone booth, letting out a cry when she saw the lieutenant colonel slumped down at the bottom of it, a hole in his chest and one in his shoulder, laying in a pool of blood. "Oh my god…!"

He turned his head, looking up at her, "Amelia…" His voice was raspy and weak, and she kneeled down, her eyes filling up with tears as she looked at him.

"What do I do?" She asked, her voice shaking out of fear, "What do I do? I don't know what to do…!" She moved her hand to his chest, "I… I put pressure on it, right? To stop the bleeding?" She asked, looking up at him for approval, and he slowly nodded his head. She moved her hands to his chest and he groaned in pain. She felt hot tears sliding down her cheeks as she heard the sound, "I'm sorry! I-I'm sorry…!" She looked down at his chest, seeing his blood coming up between her fingers as she pressed her hands against the wound. "I don't… I don't know what to do…" She felt her body shaking and she felt her shoulder shaking as she looked at his chest, and back up at him, "What can I do…? I-I don't know what to do…! What can I do?" She asked him urgently, but he didn't answer. His head slumped back and he let out a heavy breath. Her eyes went wide and she started to shake him, "Hughes? Hughes!"

In the distance, she could hear sirens, but she ignored it as she tried to figure out what she could do to fix this, "Hughes, wake up!" She shouted at him, looking down at his chest, feeling nothing from his heartbeat. She started to press her hands against his chest rhythmically, hoping this was the right way to do CPR and get it to start working again, "Wake up, Hughes! Come on, wake up! Wake up!" Her tears spilled down onto his uniform and she started to sob as she kept applying pressure, trying to get him to come back, "Come on, wake up! Please, wake up! Y-You have to tell me what to do…! I-I can't do this myself…!" She started to sob, hearing the sirens growing louder as they came closer, hearing voices of people coming by, "Please, Hughes! Please…! I don't know what to do…" She broke down crying, sobbing aloud as she kept weakly pressing her hands against his chest, hoping for a miracle.

It wasn't until the EMTs pulled her off of him that she was able to stop and realize that others were here, and they were better equipped to help. She let them take his body, watching as it was put on a gurney, and she was pulled into the ambulance with them.

* * *

Time was a blur, she was pulled from the ambulance to the hospital. She didn't remember anything that happened after she was put aside in a chair, and she could hear someone telling her to wait there, but she didn't register it. She kept seeing Hughes' blood coming up between her fingers as she pressed on his open wound, remembering the faint sounds of his rough breathing as she had done so. Had she done something wrong somewhere? She didn't really know any CPR, so maybe she did something wrong? What if she made it worse? What if she guaranteed that he died? She looked down at her hands, seeing her palms stained with blood, and she could only see that open wound again, putting pressure on it, trying to get the blood to stop, trying to get him to stay alive a little longer. It was all she could see, all she could hear, all she could think about, sitting in that chair, she felt like she was still at the phone booth, replaying the scene over and over again, trying to figure out a way to make it better, to figure out a way to help him more. What should she have done? What did she do? What could she do? What could she do?

"Amelia." She was pulled out of the memories by the sound of her name, looking up to see Major Armstrong looking down at her, still dressed in his uniform. She looked around them, seeing white walls and tiled floors… That's right, they were in a hospital. The people came and took Hughes to the hospital… "Are you alright?"

"I…" Her voice was hoarse and she cleared her throat, looking down at her hands in her lap again, "I… I'm okay…" She looked down at her palms, seeing where the blood had seeped between the lines of her palms, of her fingerprints, it was so red…

"Amelia," she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up again, seeing that Armstrong had knelt down to her eye level in the chair, his hand on her shoulder, "What happened?"

"Is… Is Hughes okay?" She asked, her voice shaking a little. "Did he make it?" Had she helped? Did she do something right? She had to, right? Surely… surely he was okay, wasn't he?

Armstrong's expression softened, though it was heavy with his own grief, his eyes filling with tears as he spoke, "The Lieutenant Colonel's wound was fatal… He did not survive."

"No, but…!" She had done CPR, she had tried to help! She was right there after he got shot! She had to have helped somehow! "I did…! I…!" She felt her eyes welling up with tears as she started to come back to reality, "I tried to-! I tried to help him, I-!" She held up her hands to show what she had done, but she stopped when she saw her bloody fingers, and she realized at some point, she had felt his heart stop. She felt her shoulders shake and she sobbed, and the Major wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his shoulder, feeling it shaking as he let his own tears flow as well. She didn't help him. She didn't miraculously save him. He died, and she couldn't do anything.

Lieutenant Colonel Hughes was gone.


	15. The Aftermath

_It is not death that a man should fear,_

_but he should fear never beginning to live._

**-Marcus Aurelius**

* * *

Amelia was taken home after it was confirmed that she didn't have any injuries, despite the blood on her hands, and on her clothes. There were stains on her pants from where she had been kneeling in that pooling blood. She was cleaned up and allowed to return to the Armstrong estate. She would remember how red the water looked when she had been washing her hands of Hughes' blood as she went back to the car. She knew it was over, but in her mind she kept replaying the scene, trying to figure out what she could have done differently, what she could have done to help more, maybe even to save him.

She didn't realize the car had stopped and they had arrived until the door opened. She could see Major Armstrong holding the door open for her. She didn't know how long she had been sitting in the car for him to have done that since she would have normally done it herself. "Sorry…" She said quietly, apologizing for the inconvenience as she stepped out and the two of them headed inside. She headed inside with him and was brought to her room. She waited to hear the sound of the door closing behind her, but it didn't come. She turned and looked back at Major Armstrong, who was looking back at her. "What is it?"

"Amelia, if you have any difficulty sleeping, you can call for someone." He told her, "What you experienced was not something that one can easily sleep through."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." She said, turning to the dresser to look for something to sleep in.

"Amelia," She turned back when he called her name again, "Tomorrow, you will be asked to speak for an interrogation since you were the last person to see Lieutenant Colonel Hughes alive. You will need to be prepared for that." She nodded, "And if there is anything you can't discuss with the interrogators that you remember." Amelia's mind flashed the image of the woman.

"There was…" She turned to him, "We went to the archive room, and I had to leave for the bathroom, but when I came back there was a woman." She said, "She had the, uh… the snake tattoo thing on her chest." She pointed to where it was on her own body. The Major's eyes widened at the mention of it, and he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"You mean the people that Edward spoke about?" He asked, "The ones with the ouroboros tattoos?"

"Yeah." She said, "And when she left, she said… something." She frowned, "She didn't see me, I think. I was hiding behind the pillar." She tried to remember, her mind had been flooded with those last moments with Hughes, it was hard to think of it, "She said… she said to send someone else after him? She had blood on her face, I think Hughes got her somehow but…" She could feel her frustration growing, she had clearly heard every word that woman had said at the time, but she had been so focused on everything else, she couldn't think of that moment. "I can't… She said something and I can't…"

"Amelia, it's all right." The Major said, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing gently, "It has been a very difficult night for you, no one would blame you for not remembering everything." He had her look up at him, "You can not tell the interrogators of this. They knew that the Lieutenant Colonel was investigating them. If we include more people, we will be putting them at risk. On top of the fact that this is top secret by the Fuhrer's orders…" He sighed, "This will not make interrogation easy for you."

"So, what do I tell them?" She asked.

"Tell them everything, but don't tell them of the woman." He said, "If word gets out about the ouroboros tattoos, there's a chance they will come after you as well." She nodded, feeling her gut twisting in fear at the thought of those people coming after her. "Is there anything else that you remember of them? Any other sign?" She shook her head.

"No, I don't remember anything else from those people." She said. The Major seemed a little relieved and he pulled away.

"Good, good…" He let out a breath of relief. "We need to make sure this information doesn't spread. Not yet." She nodded slowly in agreement. He looked down at his student, who didn't still to be quite herself. "Well, you should get some rest. You have a long day tomorrow." Amelia nodded and he left the room so she could get comfortable. She was rather tired as it was, after so much running and moving around, her body was exhausted. It didn't take her long to get to sleep.

* * *

_She stood in that white abyss, seeing Kate again. The outline of that person again._

_Kate spoke but her words were muffled and Amelia couldn't hear her. She wore the smile of a person terrified, like a mother trying to console a scared child despite being scared themselves. She couldn't hear what she said like she was listening to her underwater._

_Amelia turned to see the outline, the strange being with no face smiling. A second passed and Kate stood in its place, giving her a grin that spoke of a kind of malicious indifference. "If nothing else, this should be very interesting." It was Kate's voice, but also the voice of the thing it once was._

_The massive doors before her opened, and those black tentacles shot out, wrapping around Amelia's arms and legs and tugging her in. Amelia could hear her screams and nothing else as she called out, reaching for Kate who watched her get pulled in, still bearing that smile of that being, as if it was so far above her that her concerns for safety would never reach, for what did it care?_

_She kept crying out, feeling tears running down her cheeks as she was pulled away deeper and deeper into the strange darkness of the gate, watching the light disappear as the gate closed. She could hear thousands of voices yelling at her in the darkness. The tentacle's grip on her hands was the tightest as she struggled against them, trying to get them off._

"Amelia!"

She jumped awake at the sound of her name and she looked up to see Bernice holding onto her wrists, looking at her worriedly. Amelia was breathing heavily, her skin sweating, and she didn't understand why.

Bernice let out a sigh and released her wrists, "You were crying out in your sleep. I thought you were going to wake the whole estate." Amelia lay back down, panting a little bit, realizing that it was a nightmare, but it didn't quite seem to fade like one now that she was awake. "Are you alright, Miss Seymour?"

"Um… yeah." She said, her voice hoarse and she realized she had been screaming. She had never had a nightmare that intense before. "Sorry for waking you up."

"It's been a difficult night for you," Bernice said, moving the blankets that had become disheveled and messed up to bring them up to her chin, almost tucking her in. "Try to rest, if you need something, just call me. I won't be far." Amelia only nodded and closed her eyes as Bernice left, hearing the door close. She took a deep breath in and out, trying to calm herself. She needed to calm down, it was only a nightmare… even if it did feel more real than anything she'd ever felt in dreams.

* * *

Amelia was woken up the next morning for the training regimen, and she took part like she always had. She slept a lot better after the nightmare had ended, and didn't remember her dreams from the rest of the night. Once that was over, breakfast was served and the day went about as it normally did for a while, with everyone chatting about the upcoming reunion which was apparently in a couple days. She hadn't realized how close it was, but it seemed odd to talk about something so festive after last night. Still, she went along with it, with Strongine managing to convince her to play Hallelujah with Amue singing vocals as an exhibition of talent for the oldest triplet.

Once breakfast was over, Major Armstrong took her to the investigations department, where he took her to be interviewed for everything she saw regarding Hughes's murder. She knew she couldn't mention the woman, so she made sure not to bring it up.

She was brought to a room that she had seen before - Hughes had brought her here her first day to ask for her personal details. It hadn't changed, metal furniture, with a solitary lamp hanging overhead. She looked up at the officer that came in to interview her, taking the seat across from her. He had harsh and sharp features on his face, making his resting frown look more like an angry scowl, but his voice spoke that he was trying to be delicate about this, "My name is Henry Douglas, I'm part of the investigations department for Internal Affairs. I've taken on the Maes Hughes case." Amelia didn't respond to him, "We understand that you were the last one to see him. We'd like to talk about that." She nodded and looked down at the table, "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Well… the Major had to go to the recruitment archives, so he left me with Lieutenant Colonel Hughes-"

"Brigadier General." Amelia lifted her head and looked at him oddly, "It was announced this morning. Maes Hughes was promoted to Brigadier General for dying in the line of duty."

"Oh… I didn't know that." She said, "Well, um, I was left with Brigadier General Hughes so he could watch after me since I'm not allowed anywhere without military supervision." Officer Douglas nodded.

"Yes, I'm aware of your custody situation." He said, "Go on. What happened?"

"He was working on something for a while… and then he left to go to the archive room." She said, "I don't remember why, he just kind of thought of something, I think, and just wanted to look into it more."

"You think?" Douglas asked, "You don't remember?"

"It was something to do with some riots." She said, "I'm not sure… He was reading the evening edition before he left, it talked about that. I remember reading the headline." Douglas nodded, gesturing for her to continue, "We got to the archives, and I went with him. He had me get some binders from the shelves-"

"Do you remember what they were?" He asked. Amelia wasn't sure she should say, considering she knew what he was looking into.

"...No. It was just some logs or something." She said vaguely, "I don't remember what ones specifically. After a while, I had to go to the bathroom, so I asked if I could go and he said yes-"

"He let you go alone?" Douglas interrupted her, "He didn't come with you?" Amelia shook her head. "Did he send someone to monitor you once you left?" She shook her head again.

"No. It was right down the hall, and he said if I wasn't out in five minutes, he'd drag me out of the stall." She said, "That was enough incentive to make me pee quick, I guess." Douglas didn't say anything as he wrote something down on his notepad, and Amelia continued, "When I came back to the archive room, he was gone, and there was blood on the floor."

"You didn't hear anything? No signs of a fight, no people shouting?" Amelia shook her head again.

"No, it was pretty quiet in the bathroom." She said, "And the archive room was a mess when I got there." She looked down at the table, "I saw the blood on the floor and I followed it out of headquarters to the phone booth where he was."

"Do you remember seeing anything when you were following the trail?" Douglas asked, "It's quite a ways from the archive room to that phone booth. Did you see or hear anything suspicious at all?" Amelia shook her head.

"Not that I can remember." She said, "Everything seemed normal, and the halls were mostly empty since it was kind of late." She looked up at the officer, "When I was going to the phone booth, I heard a gunshot and I ran to get there." Douglas wrote down something on his notepad.

"Did you see the shooter?" he asked, "Or hear anyone trying to run away?" She paused as she remembered the figure she saw briefly in front of the phone booth, but she wasn't sure if that had been a phantom of some kind in her imagination, or she had really seen it.

"Well… I don't think so. I thought I saw something just when I got there." She said, "But it was gone in a second. I don't know if it was a person or not." Douglas nodded again, "And when I got there… Hughes had already been shot, and I tried to… I tried to stop the bleeding. And when he stopped breathing I tried to do CPR, but I didn't really know how so… I-I don't know if I made it worse." Douglas said nothing, "After that the ambulance came and… They took him to the hospital." She looked up at him, "That's all I can remember."

"Do you remember where he was shot?" Douglas asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah, right here." She pointed to a spot on her chest, "It was right here. In his heart."

"Did he say anything to you when you arrived? He was still alive, yes?" She nodded as she remembered.

"Yeah… barely. He didn't say much to me… He recognized me, so he said my name." She said, "That was it."

Douglas's natural scowl seemed to deepen, "And you didn't see or hear anything suspicious at all? What about the person you saw? Can you describe them?" Amelia shook her head.

"No… I don't really remember seeing what they looked like. It was dark, and I couldn't really see a lot."

"And you leaving headquarters as you said…" Douglas looked at something in his notes, "That's highly unusual that you would be left alone at all, given those very strict orders about your being under military surveillance." Amelia looked up at him, a little concerned about where this was going. "He really just let you go?"

"He was timing me." She said, "He was only going to give me five minutes in the toilet."

"And somewhere in those five minutes Hughes was injured by whoever attacked him, and you didn't see that person or hear the fight at all?"

"No…" She got a sinking feeling in her stomach as he was starting to point out things that were missing, "I'm sorry, but that's all I remember." Douglas looked up at her from over his notepad.

"In the five minutes you were in the toilet, Maes Hughes was attacked and left, and so did his attacker, and you didn't see either of them?" She shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry." Douglas's scowl deepened.

"Do you realize that this information makes you highly suspect?" He asked, "You were the last person to see him alive, and you just happened not to see anything that went on before following him out to where he died?"

"I'm telling the truth!" Amelia said, "I didn't do anything wrong except leaving headquarters without any surveillance. I swear!"

"Do you know the caliber of gun that Maes Hughes was shot with?" Douglas asked, and Amelia shook her head, "A .45 caliber. It's standard issue for all military officers. Your Major Armstrong happens to have such a gun in his possession. You could have stolen it from him and used it to kill Major Hughes before hiding it away."

"What gun?" Amelia asked, "The Major never uses it! I've only ever seen him use alchemy. I didn't know he had one." Douglas frowned and Amelia only grew more nervous, "I swear! If he has one, I don't know where he keeps it." Douglas' scowl only deepened and she started to wonder if her days with the major were over. She had to admit, he made a compelling case against her… would she really go to jail?

"You're right." Amelia felt her tense shoulders relaxing a little bit at the words, but she was confused, "The Major no longer has a gun. He returned it to the armory shortly after the Ishvalan Civil War, and has never renewed any request for one." Amelia relaxed a little more, "I apologize for the third degree, but I needed to make sure of something." She let out a sigh of relief and sunk back in her chair.

"God, don't do that…" She muttered, "I almost had a damn heart attack."

It wasn't much longer after that, he asked a few follow-up questions about Hughes' behavior that day, and she answered them as best she could without giving away too much about the philosopher's stone and their investigation into it. When she was finished, he let her go and she looked up at the Major who had been waiting outside, with another pair of officers that looked familiar

"There's some work that's come up that I need to attend to at once. I'll return you to the estate and then we can prepare for your alchemy training." Amelia nodded and she let him lead her off the property to the Armstrong estate again, "And it seems a date has been set for Lieutenant Colonel Hughes' funeral."

"Brigadier General Hughes." Amelia corrected him, "The guy in there told me, he got promoted for dying in the line of duty."

"I see…" The Major nodded along, accepting the news, "His funeral will be tomorrow at two o'clock. I assume that you wish to attend?"

Amelia nodded, "Yeah, I do." She wanted to pay her respects to the man. They didn't get along all that well, but he was a good man, he deserved to at least have a proper farewell. She wanted to make sure she helped in that, considering his last moments. She could still remember the feeling of blood under her fingers, feeling a shiver go down her spine as she thought of it.

"Then we'll have you dressed properly. If we don't have a black dress for you now, we'll have one tailored for you." He promised her as they headed to the car.

* * *

Amelia watched as she stood up in front of a mirror, seeing Amue, Strongine, and Catherine going through the youngest sister's closet to look for a pair of dresses for Amelia to wear. "I still feel weird about taking your clothes like this." She admitted to her as she watched the girls go through Catherine's closet and dresser.

"Oh, it's fine," Catherine said, "I still have a lot of old clothes from when I was younger, and they should fit you alright." She went back to looking through her closet, with Strongine beside her as the two walked deeper into it (because of course, Catherine would have a walk-in closet) and looked for some of the old dresses she mentioned.

"Ah, here we are!" Strongine pulled one dress off the rack, showing it to Amelia to see it was the black dress she would need for the funeral tomorrow. "This should work perfectly, this was a dress that she wore for a New Year's party." She walked over to hand it to Amelia, "Go and change behind the screen, dear. Let's see how it fits." Amelia took the dress and went to the changing screen, where Delilah and Dianna were waiting at either end to help her put on clothes, and help adjust them as well.

Amelia could hear the sisters still talking as they looked over all the different clothes they might bring out for her since the other dress was going to be for the Armstrong family reunion. "Oh, what about this one?" She heard Amue ask, "The skirt might be a little short, but I think it can be extended."

"No, no, that color's all wrong for her." Strongine said, "It's lovely, but you're right about the skirt. It's just short enough to be a little too scandalous. It suited Catherine much better when she was 10."

"You're finding me 10-year-old dresses?" Amelia asked as she heard that bit of information. "I'm not small enough to fit in those!"

"Well, it might be the only thing that might fit you comfortably." Strongine said apologetically, "You and Catherine don't have quite the same figure."

"You don't have to remind me…" Amelia grumbled bitterly as she pulled on the dress, "Can someone get the buttons on the back here?"

"Allow me, Miss Seymore." Said Delilah as she came back behind the screen to get the buttons on the back of the dress. Slowly, Amelia was learning to tell the difference between the two uniformed redhead twins. Delilah had a habit of biting her nails, and she couldn't feel anything scraping her skin by accident as the woman did the dress. She stepped back to look at Amelia in it, "It does seem a bit… large." She said, looking at the dress, "But it shouldn't be too noticeable, certainly no need for a large adjustment."

"Oh, let us see, Amelia!" Catherine called out, and Amelia stepped out from behind the screen to show them, "It suits you well, considering the occasion."

"Thanks." She said, and she looked at the dress that Catherine had draped over her arm. "Uh… what is that?"

"This? It's the dress I picked out for you." She said, holding it up to show her, "I thought you would look lovely in a bright color like this."

"Catherine that dress is piss yellow," Amelia said dryly.

"It is not!" Amue said quickly, "It is  _marigold_  yellow." Amelia rolled her eyes at the correction. "And don't say that word. It's incredibly vulgar for a woman to say 'piss.' I happen to agree with Catherine, I think it would look lovely on you."

"I don't do yellow. I'm not wearing it." Amelia said firmly, crossing her arms.

"At least try it on." Strongine said, "Just so we have an idea of where to look for dresses that fit properly."

"Fine…" Amelia sighed, taking the dress from Catherine and going back behind the screen to change again. At least she found a dress for the funeral, that was the more important one in her mind. She wasn't exactly looking forward to attending the reunion the day after, especially since her attendance meant there would be more than a few military guards around the place to make sure she didn't somehow escape with the crowd. She put up the black dress and started to pull on the yellow one, hearing the sisters still talking on the other side.

"Oh, Strongine, I got a few RSVPs back from our Cretan cousins, it looks as if the entire branch will make it," Amue said.

"Wonderful! Have you heard anything from the Temples?" Strongine asked.

"Yes, it looks as if Reginald, Melissa, and Charlotte will come, but not Terrence."

"Oh, why not?"

"Apparently Terrence has another affair, Melissa didn't go into detail."

"Shame, I suppose we'll have to give up his seat for a guest."

"Oh, and they're all bringing guests. I forgot to mention."

"The Temples?"

"The Temples  _and_  the Castellanos in Creta. All of them."

" _All_  of them are bringing a guest?"

"Are we going to need more chairs?" Catherine piped up.

"No, no, we should be alright. Worst case scenario we move some couches into the ballroom." Strongine assured her. "So with the Castellanos and the Temples, and everyone bringing a guest that's… 20 people."

"No, 18. Terrence isn't coming, remember?" Amue corrected.

"Oh, yes, 18. You're right." Strongine said. "Amelia, have you finished putting on that dress yet?"

"Almost!" She called back, trying to do the buttons on the back herself, though it wasn't going well, "Dianna, could you…?"

"Of course, Miss Seymour." Said the twin as she came over and quickly did the buttons on the back of the dress. Amelia stepped out to let the sisters take a look at her.

"Amelia, you look lovely in that dress, I think you should wear it." Strongine said, "It's a little… airy in the chest area, but that's to be expected with Catherine." Amelia looked down at the dress, reaching for the skirt and moving it around a little to get a feel for the dress itself.

"I look like Belle…" She said, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't care to dress as a Disney Princess for their reunion.

"Oh, you do not, but if you think the figure is that unflattering, we won't dress you like a bell." Strongine said, "But at least it tells us where to look in terms of dresses you can wear."

"What about this one?" Catherine asked, pulling out a purple ball gown with a blue trim, Strongine gasped happily at the sight of it.

"Oh, I remember this dress! I haven't seen it in years." She said, coming over to look at it, Amue doing the same to admire the gown.

"Didn't you wear this to you first poetry exhibition?" Amue asked, "That was such a wonderful time, and you created such art, Catherine." Catherine beamed at the praise from her sisters.

"I thought this might work for Amelia. I was about the same size as her when I wore this." She said, coming over to Amelia to show it to her. She had to admit, it was a lovely gown to wear, off shoulder sleeves, the fabric seeming to be a mix of lilac-colored lace with blue satin covering the sleeves and the collar, as well as the bottom trim of the dress. "What do you think?"

"I like it." She said, "Let me try it on." She reached for the dress from Catherine and took it behind the screen with her to change.

"I think that might be the one." Amue said optimistically, "I remember it looked wonderful on Catherine, she was about your age the first time she wore it."

"Yes, I was 14 at the time of that poetry exhibition." Catherine said, "I was right in the middle of my growing years." Amelia took that to mean it was when she was right in the middle of puberty. The dress seemed to fit well enough, though it was a little roomy in a couple places… but it still fit. She stepped out, and the three sisters all beamed at the sight of her.

"Oh, you look darling!" Amue said with a smile. "Truly beautiful, Amelia!"

"I must agree, you look wonderful," Strongine said.

Amelia took a look at herself in the mirror, unable to help smiling a little at the sight of herself. She really did look nice, "Yeah, I guess I can wear this." The sisters all clapped as she agreed to wear the dress, and she couldn't help chuckling a little at knowing how easy it was to please them.

"Perfect! Then let's get it adjusted. Delilah? Dianna?" Catherine called for the twins who quickly stepped forward, Dianna had a pincushion on her wrist, and Delilah came with pins to put everything in place. Amelia watched them work in the reflection, hearing the party planning conversation that was being held between the three women. She had to admit that in the time she spent here, she enjoyed her time with Catherine, Strongine, and Amue. They always made her feel welcome, even if it was mildly annoying at times with Strongine's insistence on her piano playing. She wondered briefly if this is what it was like to have sisters of her own, and in that brief moment, she thought it would be nice to have sisters like them.

* * *

After the fitting, Amelia returned to her room to do some composing, trying to sound out the songs she remembered how to play by heart and write them down. Somehow, in the midst of the dress picking and fitting, she had been convinced by Strongine to play Hallelujah, with Amue on vocals. They planned to practice after her alchemy training that day, though Amelia told her how the verses went, and she was writing them down as well for reference - assuming that Amue could read music.

She spent a good deal of time doing just that, writing and composing the song she remembered, which was fairly easy for one song. When she finished, she started on another and started on another when she finished that. She was half-way through the third before she checked the time, and realized that she had been writing for almost two hours. She glanced back at the door of her bedroom, a little confused. Shouldn't Major Armstrong have been back by now? Well, he would probably burst in at any moment, so she chose to continue her writing for as long as that would be, but another hour passed and the major still didn't show up.

She started to get a little worried, so she got out of her room - followed closely by one of the house servants, of course - and made her way to the parlor room, where she saw the head of the household enjoying some tea. He noticed her coming in and he smiled, "Ah, Amelia! Come in, come in, Have some tea with us, won't you?" He gestured to the seat across from him, and she saw that he was with his wife as well.

"No, that's okay, I'm just wondering if the major's come back yet." She asked, "He said he had some work to attend to, I just didn't think it would be this long."

"Has Alex not returned yet?" Philip asked, turning to his wife, who shook her head.

"No, I haven't seen him." She said, reaching to put her teacup down, "Should we call and see when he plans to return home?"

"No, that's okay." Amelia said, "I just wanted to check if he was home yet. He'll probably be back soon."

"Oh, well then join us, my dear!" Philip said, waving her in, "Come and have a cup of tea, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Amelia felt a little awkward about joining their private moment, but she didn't want to seem rude, either. She came into the parlor room and took a seat that was apart from their own, watching as the Lady Armstrong stood up to pour her a cup. Amelia was always a little amazed at just how tall she actually was at her full height, easily as tall as the Major himself. She had forgotten just how easily this woman could loom over her.

"There you are, Amelia." She said, passing her a cup and saucer before sitting down across from her husband again. "It's a rather deep blend from Aerugo, it has a most interesting flavor."

"Thank you." Amelia said, taking a brief sip of the tea, wrinkling her nose a little at the strength of that 'deep' taste the Lady Armstrong had mentioned. "It's… certainly interesting. It's almost like coffee. But kind of… I want to say a chestnut flavor."

"Very good," Philip praised her, "It is indeed a chestnut sort of blend to it. It's lovely, isn't it?" He took a gulp from his own cup. "I don't believe we've spoken to you very often outside of dinner, Amelia. Tell us, how are your lessons with Alex going?"

"Oh, they're going well." Amelia said, "I'm starting to figure out how to calculate for larger transmutations, and my elemental manipulation has gotten a lot better."

"Wonderful, wonderful." Philip nodded, "As is to be expected of the Armstrong heir! He is an alchemic master! Just like his father!"

"You know alchemy?" Amelia asked, a little surprised since she had never seen him transmute anything once.

"Of course! The art of alchemy has been passed down the male Armstrong line for generations!" Philip said, "I was Alex's tutor when he was about your age, and he caught on remarkably well. I'm glad to see that his student is able to do the same."

"It's only passed down to the males?" Amelia didn't realize it was a family tradition, "I thought anyone in the family who wanted to learn it could do it. The major mentioned more than a few female alchemists in the family…" She didn't remember their names since it was so long ago that he had taught the Armstrong lineage, but she remembered it wasn't only men.

"Ah, yes, those in the cases where no son was born." Philip said, "And that was our plan until Alex came along, he was a happy surprise."

"You… didn't plan on having a baby?" She asked, wondering if the triplets were unplanned.

"Oh, no, we were planning on twins." Josephine Armstrong said, "Alex was a happy surprise, we weren't expecting triplets."

"Yes, the Armstrong line does have a habit of multiples once in a generation or two." Philip said, "We were expecting multiples after Josephine's belly proved to be larger than before, but triplets were a marvelous surprise! And with my first son!" He began to laugh, his torso shaking with each laugh. "And not too long after them, we had our beautiful Catherine! A perfect set of children for a perfect Armstrong line!"

"Sounds like you guys had quite the baby fever," Amelia muttered to herself, knowing that it would be rude if they heard her. "So the tradition is for just the men to learn it? Unless there are no sons born?"

"The firstborn son." Philip specified, "But it is open for all those who wish to learn it. However, I'm sure you know that alchemy is a complicated science and not everyone can learn it easily. So it's reserved in training for the firstborn son, and anyone else who wishes to participate. We're not about to bar our own family from learning, that would be very counterproductive."

"I see." Amelia said, "So I guess I fall into the category of everyone else that wants to learn? Or would I fall under the next generation since we're probably about that far apart in age?" She was sure that the Major was at least 30, he certainly looked like it. Philip shrugged as a response.

"We don't really categorize you for the most part." He said, "You're simply Alex's apprentice, even if you are one that's convicted." She frowned a little at the mention of her status as a prisoner, but she couldn't deny that it was still true.

"Still, I've never seen you perform alchemy." Amelia mentioned, "Could you show me a little something?"

"Not on my china, he won't." The Lady Armstrong said firmly, and Philip chuckled nervously at the sight of her glare.

"Of course not, my dear, I wouldn't manipulate anything like that." He said as he put his teacup aside, reaching for a nearby book, "But this should be simple enough, now if I just had a pen- Ah, this will do." He reached over for an inkwell, Amelia watching as he dipped his pinky finger (which was still rather thick) into the blackness and began to draw a transmutation circle on the back of the hardcover book. She watched as he put his hand to it, and it began to take the shape of something new. She wasn't surprised to see it turn into a statue of someone surprisingly familiar.

"I guess you and Alex take a liking to making statues of him." She said as she looked at it.

"Whatever do you mean?" Philip asked, "This is not Alex, this is a statue of myself in my younger years!" He gestured to the statue's head, "See here? My hair curl was significantly longer than Alex's when I was in the military." Amelia didn't really see much difference, but she let him go on with that.

"Well, I guess I know where Alex gets his looks from." She said simply before sipping her offered tea again. "So… where does Catherine get her looks from?" She looked over at the Lady Armstrong, "Did you look like that at her age?"

"Oh, she doesn't get it from me," Josephine said, "That unique beauty comes from Philip's side of the family. She looks a great deal like her aunt Marilyn."

"It's true! She could be the spitting image of my sister." Philip agreed, "Oh, and speaking of which, I have a delightful story about her, would you care to hear it?" Before Amelia could answer, he was already going on about his childhood with his sister, and his five other brothers and Amelia listened politely. She looked to the Lady Armstrong, who seemed content listening, but she also looked like she wasn't really paying attention, focusing on her tea and eventually picking up a book and starting to read it as Philip went on.

She listened to his family stories for the better part of two hours, after the sun had gone down, and dinner was ready. She ate with everyone, still listening as Philip went on, getting sympathetic looks from his daughters as she was right by his side as he told his tales. She would later find out that Philip Gargantos Armstrong had a bit of a talkative streak and loved to tell his stories to anyone that would listen.

It wasn't until after dinner that Major Armstrong came back and Amelia was quick to go and meet him, "What the hell?" She scowled up at him, "I thought you said you were only going to work for a while and come back for my alchemy lessons? You know how long I've had to sit here listening to your dad tell stories?" She kept her voice down so the head of the household wouldn't hear her complaints, but she was still upset at having missed her lessons.

"My apologies, Amelia." He said, "My workload ended up being more than I thought it would, and before I realized it I had missed the window for your alchemy lessons. They shall resume tomorrow before the family reunion, there is no need to worry." Amelia frowned at his answer, but she didn't have much choice in accepting it.

"So what happened to your workload anyway?" She asked.

"Well… because of the Brigadier General's death, his cases were divided amongst the people working under him in the investigations department." Armstrong explained, "Since I worked directly under him, I received a rather large helping… But I will make sure it will not get in the way in the future. I have leave time for the reunion tomorrow, and we can make up for lost time tomorrow morning." He promised her, and then went to the dining room where his family greeted him and sat with him as he was served his portion of a lukewarm meal, and Amelia did the same as they all continued to talk to one another about their day, but most of it was talking about planning for the reunion tomorrow. She spoke with them, and she spoke with the Major a little about scheduling since they would be attending Hughes's funeral tomorrow as well, and she wanted to make sure that she got her alchemy training in while she could. She knew she could stand to improve her alchemy if she wanted to be anywhere near the level of a state certified alchemist.

* * *

The next day, after a good night's sleep, Amelia was woken up with everyone else for the daily training regimen, her schedule starting to go back to what it had been before the increased security measures and having her taking part in the same training as the rest of the family. Once that was finished, and she was all washed up from the sweat and back to herself, she dressed up in black and pulled her hair back into a braid to look nice for the upcoming funeral. She and the Major drove there in his car, coming to the graveyard and joining a rather large group of military soldiers all waiting. She was surprised to see the Fuhrer had attended as well, all the soldiers dressed in uniform, with a black sash over it to signify their mourning.

Amelia's heart broke as she looked over to see Gracia Hughes on the edge of tears as a sermon was delivered by another soldier, who spoke of Hughes's achievements in the military, saying of how he was known as a loving father and husband to everyone that met him, "A talented individual who the military will be remiss without." as he put it. Gracia held onto her daughter Elicia, holding her close as the little toddler tried to wipe away her mother's tears without shedding any herself.

When the time came to bury him, everyone walked up to the hill where his grave had been dug, his coffin carried by four officers, bearing the flag of his country as he was slowly lowered into the ground. Amelia listened as orders were given by a drill officer, and they gave Maes Hughes a 21 gun salute. She watched as the Fuhrer himself was the first to shovel a pile of dirt over the coffin, and that was the signal to the gravediggers to do the same and carry on from there. Everyone remained silent for a time as all they could hear was the sound of dirt hitting the coffin.

"Mommy?" A tiny voice broke the silence, "Why are they putting all that dirt on Daddy?" Amelia looked over at Elicia, who was staring at the grave with innocently wide eyes, with Gracia barely holding back her sobs as she used a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

"They're burying him, dear," Gracia answered her.

"But if Daddy gets buried then he won't be able to do all his work…!" Elicia said, tugging on her mother's hand as she tried to get her to act. Amelia's heart was broken as she realized the girl was too young to understand what death was, or what was happening to her father, feeling a lump forming in her throat as she looked over at the small girl. She looked away as Gracia picked up her daughter, her shoulders shaking as Elicia looked back at the grave and held out her hand, reaching for her father, "Daddy said he had a bunch of work he needs to do! No! Stop it! Stop putting dirt on him!  _Daddy!_ " Amelia couldn't look at the sight anymore, turning her head away. She looked up at her teacher, seeing him bringing a hand to his face as he shed tears of his own, his heartbreaking at the sound of a child calling out for her dead father.

Amelia wiped at her tears as they kept burying Hughes, hearing his daughter's pleas turning into open sobs as she cried into her mother's shoulder, frustrated and confused at what was happening. It was horrible that this happened to him of all people, Hughes was a good person from what she had known, and with the way he obsessed over his wife and daughter, she knew he was a family man. This could not be an easy thing to recover from and she felt terrible that this had happened to Gracia. Once the burial was finished and people began to disperse, they all came to Mrs. Hughes to pay their respects, expressing their condolences and shaking her hand.

Her eyes were red and puffy, and Elicia was still in her arms, in a very similar state as her mother, but also tired and whining as she held onto her mother's clothes. When it came time for the Major to greet her, his tears had dried and he shook her hand, "Your husband was a great man, I am so sorry for this terrible tragedy."

"Thank you, Major." Gracia's voice was still shaky as she answered him. Amelia was next up, looking up at Gracia, and she met her eyes.

"I didn't know him well… but I know that this hurts. It was a lovely service." She said, offering her condolences. Gracia only nodded and they departed from the crowd, heading back to the car. The more she realized what was ahead of them that day, the heavier her heartfelt. She looked up at the Major, "Um… do you think we can maybe stop somewhere before we head back?"

"Is something wrong?" The Major asked.

"Well, I just… I kind of…" She wanted to get something to soothe this heavy feeling, and her first thought was to stuff her mouth with something smothered in chocolate. "I sort of have a craving for chocolate. Can we stop somewhere?"

The Major nodded, "I happen to know a cafe where they make the best hot chocolate in the city. It's not too far from here." She got into the car with him and they were driven into town, heading to a little corner cafe a little ways off of main street. It was small, and floral, in that everything about it had floral patterns. She didn't care that much for it, but it was a refreshing sight after seeing nothing but black clothes on people. She and the Major took a seat together, with the Major removing his hat once they had a table. A waitress came up to greet them with a cheery smile to ask what they wanted to eat, and Amelia ordered a hot chocolate, with the Major ordering the same.

The Major looked over at Amelia once the waitress had gone, "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm fine." She said, looking down at the table, "Just… funerals are depressing." She reached over for the napkin holder, taking one out and starting to fiddle with it so she had an excuse not to meet the Major's eyes for a moment. "But I guess if they were happy occasions, that would be kind of disrespectful to the people who are grieving or whatever."

"It is not often that I see you shed tears," He said, and Amelia frowned at the mention of it.

"You were crying, too." She pointed out, "I mean, Elicia didn't understand anything… who wouldn't cry about that?" She started to fold the napkin, trying to make origami out of it.

"It was very heart-breaking." The Major agreed. "But I did not think you and Hughes were very close."

"We weren't." She replied, still trying to make the origami from the napkin, "He was just the guy in charge of keeping up with me for those weird reports." She paused and looked up at the Major, "Who's going to do that now that he's gone? Do you know if anyone's been assigned?"

"Actually, the lieutenant- I mean, brigadier general Hughes volunteered for that position." He said, "The Fuhrer wasn't sure it was necessary, but he insisted. I'm not sure if anyone will be taking his place since it was voluntary."

"Oh." Well, not having to do those reports with anyone else was something of a pleasing thought.

She looked up when the waitress came back, depositing two cups of steaming hot chocolate in front of them both, "Enjoy your drinks." She said as she left with that same smile she had worn before, and Amelia took her mug, gently blowing on it before she took a sip, only to pull away with a frown.

"Ugh, too hot." She put the cup down and waited for her burning tongue to calm down a little more. She watched as the Major had his own sip and put the cup down.

"Have you attended a funeral before?" He asked her, and Amelia shook her head.

"No, I don't have a lot of extended family, and my grandparents died when I was a baby." She sipped at her drink again, pulling away when it was too hot, staring down at the cup.

"I suppose it is a good thing that you have not lost anyone in your life." The Major said as he sipped at his drink again, showing none of the signs of discomfort that Amelia was feeling. "I cannot say the same."

"Well…" She paused before she quieted herself. With a family as big as the Major's, she imagined he might have lost a few people in his life. She sipped at her drink to keep it from coming out of her mouth, though. Saying that out loud might not be the most appropriate thing right at that moment, "He was a good man… and we know that those guys did it." By 'those guys' she meant the people with the ouroboros tattoos, "So what do we do now? I know you guys have orders not to investigate and all…"

"We can only follow those orders at this time." Armstrong said, "I do not wish to place you or myself at risk if we further our investigations. It is best to lay low until such a time as we are able to begin again, and look to the senior staff."

"Oh, hey, by the way," She looked up at him, "Do any of them have a background in alchemy? I never did ask." It was the reason they had been separated that night, and she was a witness to Hughes' murder.

"I looked into it, but none of them have any known background in alchemy. They were all recruited as soldiers and simply worked their way through the ranks." The Major said, "We are no closer to finding our target than we were before. The closest I did find would be Brigadier General Bas Grande, but he has already passed."

"Maybe his death was faked?" Amelia asked, trying to offer some hope into finding the one responsible in this investigation.

"He was murdered by Scar," Armstrong said, "I saw his corpse myself. He is undoubtedly dead." Amelia grimaced a little.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up." She said, sipping her hot chocolate again. She was starting to feel a little better as she drank it, the sweet taste helping to wash away the sour feeling of depression that had been hanging over her at the funeral.

"It's alright, you are simply trying to think like an investigator," The Major gave her a small grin, "I appreciate your efforts in trying to brainstorm who this great villain might be," The smile fell into a serious look, "But it is best not to discuss it any longer. As much as we should be looking for these people, it is better we do not pursue it for now. We should not bring any more attention to ourselves and what we have done here."

"Or we'll end up like Hughes, right?" She asked, seeing Armstrong nod in response. Keeping her voice low, she asked another question, "Do you think his death was a warning?"

Armstrong's brow furrowed and he looked down into his cup, scowling as he frustratedly thought of such an option, "It is possible that is exactly what his death meant." He said, "It is better to take that warning and heed it, Amelia." He looked over at her in concern, "You do not need to be in a grave similar to his, nor do we need to arouse any more attention. Your focus should be on your alchemy training."

"Right, right…" She had to agree with that, sipping from her mug again, "But you know, this is really good hot chocolate." She gave him a half-hearted smile, "I'm starting to feel a little better."

He smiled at her in turn, "As I told you, they are the best in the city. And I imagine sweets like this do help to soothe the heavy heart once in a while." He sipped at his drink again, and Amelia couldn't help but wonder if he figured that out because he had been looking for a way to soothe a heavy heart. She remembered that night she snuck into his room, how he grabbed her hand, in a cold sweat and half-asleep, begging for forgiveness. A part of her wondered just how much of his thoughts were haunted by his actions in Ishval, and how much of it he kept buried for the sake of his family not worrying about him.

"Right…" She mumbled as she took another sip, "So, um, speaking of my alchemy training, how much do you think we'll be able to get in before the reunion?"

"I think we may be able to get in an hour or so before you have to prepare," Armstrong said, glad for the change in subject, "And then, of course, you will need to take some time to prepare for the reunion, as will I. I am sure you are aware that you will be monitored at all times during the festivities."

"I never doubted that I wouldn't be." She said, sipping her cup again, "Your sisters are always giving me Catherine's old dresses like they're the only ones that would fit."

"Well, Strongine and Amue were much larger than Catherine at your age."

"How much larger, though? Did they hit six foot or something? I have, like, a thousand questions on your family gene pool because there are so many things I don't understand about how you parents can make someone like Catherine, and then someone like  _you_."

"I'm not sure what you're implying." Armstrong seemed genuinely confused by her words. "We are all of Armstrong blood, there is no doubt of this."

"Well- yeah, see,  _you_  I get. Your mom's super tall, your dad's all muscle-y and wide and whatever. Catherine looks nothing like either of them, and you… kinda look like your dad." Amelia tried to explain. "Like Catherine is… I mean, she could be a model."

"What a lovely compliment to give to her."

"Okay, no, but that's not the point!" Amelia was growing a little frustrated.

"Major Armstrong?" The conversation was interrupted by a new voice, and Amelia looked over to see a blonde woman in uniform speaking to them. She had a serious expression on her face, and it took Amelia a moment to recognize her, though she hadn't had much interaction with the woman. "Colonel Mustang would like to speak with you."

* * *

They went with Lieutenant Hawkeye to a familiar phone booth, and Amelia got a little nervous as she remembered that night. Desperately trying to perform CPR on a dying man when she didn't know how, blood covering her fingers and spilling through the seams between them. She reached for the Major's sleeve for comfort without realizing it, the man was surprised at the gesture, but didn't comment on it, knowing she would be embarrassed if he did. In front of the bloody phone booth, which had been marked off as a crime scene, was Colonel Mustang. Amelia remembered him after the Tucker house incident well enough.

"Colonel," He turned at the sound of the Lieutenant's voice, "I've found Major Armstrong, as you asked me to." The Major saluted and the colonel looked at him, and at the alchemic apprentice that stood next to him, holding onto his shirt sleeve. Amelia couldn't look at the phone booth, turning her head away so she wouldn't have to look at the blood. The memories of that night were too fresh for her, and she didn't care to relive them again.

"Let's talk somewhere a little more private." The colonel said, directing them away from the guard posted by the phone booth and further into the park, enough to be out of earshot of the guard, as well as any passerby. As they walked further from the phone booth, Amelia realized she was holding the major's sleeve and dropped it, a little ashamed that she had let herself do it, to begin with. When they found a quiet spot, the colonel spoke again, "Major, I want you to tell me what you know about the Hughes case." He looked over at Amelia, "I know that your student was the last one to see him alive, and with you being the officer directly under him, you're taking charge of his murder case, correct?" Amelia looked up at her teacher with wide eyes, not realizing he was the one that had been assigned investigations. What about the guy who interrogated her? Was he not involved or just someone working under the Major?

"That's correct, sir." Armstrong confirmed, "We have a strong lead on the potential suspects in the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes."

"Then why aren't you hunting them down right now?" The colonel asked.

"We're confident that we know who committed the crime, but we're unsure of their identities."

The colonel frowned at his response, "That doesn't make sense, Major. Clarify for me."

Armstrong shook his head, "I'm afraid I cannot."

"I'm telling you to explain as your commanding officer." Mustang's tone was stern, "You're disobeying a direct order, Major."

"I cannot tell you." The Major insisted, which only deepened Mustang's frown. He glared up at the Major, who stood still and looked right back. He had been ordered not to tell anyone of that information by the Fuhrer, though the colonel did seem the type to punish him for not following an order, Amelia thought. Wasn't his disobeying enough for a court-martial?

The colonel looked to Amelia, "And what about you?" She jumped when she was suddenly dragged in, "What did you see when you found Hughes?" She wasn't really sure how to answer that at first since she was under threat of jail if she revealed that information to him, and she didn't want to get in more trouble than she was already.

"I… um…" She fumbled over her words, "I-I told the interrogator everything I could, you can just look at his report or something…" It was the best answer she could give, at least better than 'I cannot answer' she thought.

Mustang frowned again, but sighed as he relented, "Fair enough." He looked up at the Major, "I apologize for my tone. You're dismissed." The major saluted and he began to walk away, with Amelia behind him. She wasn't sure they were doing the right thing by withholding information, but what choice did they have? Armstrong was under orders, and she would go to jail if she told. When Armstrong stopped walking, she stopped as well.

"Actually… Sir, there's another matter I neglected to mention." Armstrong said, "The Elric brothers were recently here. They only departed a couple of days ago."

"They were here? In Central?" Mustang sounded curious, and Amelia looked back at him over her shoulder.

"Yes, sir. For a number of days." Armstrong answered him.

Amelia watched as the corners of the colonel's lips turned up into a badly-withheld smirk, "And did they find what they were looking for?"

"No, sir. That would be rather difficult as they are chasing a legend." Armstrong answered.

"Is that so?" The smirk had turned into a satisfied grin. "Well, thanks for your help." The Major nodded before he continued walking, with Amelia behind him. She looked back at the colonel as he spoke to his lieutenant, though she couldn't hear what they were saying.

"I feel kind of bad." She said, "He just wanted to help, right? It sucks we can't tell him about this."

"Don't be so sure." The Major said, "The colonel is more clever than he appears, and I gave him plenty of clues so he can find the answer on his own."

"You did?" Amelia hadn't caught any of them at all. "Wait, so what if he finds out? What if they do to him what they did to Hughes?"

"I am confident that the colonel is more capable than you realize." Armstrong said, "He is, after all, the Flame Alchemist. I'm sure you remember his display of power from the McDougal incident." Amelia nodded, remembering feeling the heat of the explosion on her skin, despite being so far away, "There are very few men I know that are brave enough to go up against him."

"Well… I guess that's good for him, then." Amelia muttered, "Let's just get out of here. I want to get in some more alchemy lessons like you owe me."


	16. The Amazing Armstrong Family Reunion

**“...you know that a good, long session of weeping**

**can often make you feel better,**

**even if your circumstances have not changed one bit.”**

_― Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning_

* * *

 

The Major and Amelia returned back to the estate, fully intending to go back to the courtyard to begin her training for the day, only to have the twin maids suddenly pick her up by the arms and lift her off her feet and start pulling her down the hall. " _What the hell?!_ " She shouted at them as they dragged her away, Armstrong following behind. Amelia's legs swung back and forth as the pair of twins pulled her along to a room where they opened the doors, and she was almost immediately grabbed by another pair of hands and dragged inside, with a dress thrown in her face.

"Hurry and change, Amelia!" Strongine commanded her, "We need to make sure everything is ready!" Amelia stood there, confused for a moment as she looked over at Strongine, seeing her and Amue rushing around in what she could only guess was their underwear, "Alex,  _get out!_ "

"Oh, pardon me!" Armstrong quickly apologized before closing the doors. Amelia was still left confused as she watched the women rushing around. Catherine was being outfitted as well, with some other maids working to style her hair.

"What is going on?" Amelia asked, "I have to do my alchemy training. We have an hour before the party starts."

"Exactly!" Strongine turned to face her, looming over her and Amelia was a little intimidated by the determined expression on her face, "We only have an hour before the party begins, so we must start getting dressed now!" She turned to look over her shoulder, "Get her dressed and ready, would you?" And Strongine's looming form was soon replaced with the twins Delilah and Dianna.

"Come along, Miss Seymour," Said Dianna as she pulled her to a separate part of the room.

"Yes, we'll make sure you look lovely for the reunion," Delilah said.

"Yes, worthy of joining the Armstrong festivities." Dianna agreed with a smile. Amelia couldn't help but panic a little when they suddenly started to undress her.

"Wait--! Hang on a damn minute!" She said, squirming out of their reach, "I can put on my own dress!" She snapped at them, holding onto the dress that had been flung at her, the lilac one she had picked before.

The twins shared a look of dry doubtfulness as if they'd heard that kind of talk before and it hadn't worked out. Amelia glared back at them, "If you touch me while I'm getting dressed, I swear I'll bite you." She threatened before she went to where she could change in relative privacy, hearing the chatter of the sisters as they went back and forth preparing themselves for the reunion. When she finished and she stepped out with her other clothes, they were almost immediately taken from her hands by Delilah, with Dianna pulling on her arm and sitting her in a chair.

The next hour or so was something of a blur, with her getting dressed up like a doll as her hair was tugged one way and another as she was "made up properly" like the rest of the Armstrong family. Once her appearance was satisfying to the maids and to the Armstrong women, they began to make their way out of the room, with Amelia being brought along with them. She looked over at Catherine as the youngest Armstrong girl walked with her sisters. They were all wearing magnificently lacy ball gowns that were very beautiful, and very clearly made of the most expensive materials available. They all had their hair up, with the exception of Amue whose hair was too short but she did wear a very extravagant hair clip. They all made their way down to a hallway and the doors opened into a large ballroom. The walls were lined with tables covered in food and delicious looking hors-d'oeuvres and finger foods, and she could see musicians already practicing on a small stage. There was a string quartet of violins and cellos, a piano, and a few woodwinds as well. The room was brightly lit by the group of crystal chandeliers that hung high above them. Amelia was amazed that she had never been to this room before in all her time in the estate, but apparently, they had a ballroom.

"Well, it looks like everything's in order." Strongine said, and she turned to one of the butlers, "Horace, how soon do you think the guests will arrive?"

"They have already arrived, Madame." He said, "They are waiting in the parlor room with refreshments. There are still a few yet to come."

"Then tell them that the party has begun and welcome them into the ballroom. We're completely ready for them." Strongine spoke confidently, and the man bowed before he went to do as he was told.

"This is going to be really fun." Catherine said, smiling at Amelia, "I'll get to introduce you to all my cousins and aunts! Everyone's so friendly, I'm sure you'll fit right in."

"Yeah, I'm sure…" Amelia wasn't really sure how to feel in this moment, but she did smile for Catherine's sake.

Within ten minutes, the ballroom was soon filled with Armstrong family members. It was blonde curls and blue eyes as far as the eye could see, save for the guests that came along with the differing groups. There were plenty of men that could easily be Major Armstrong's lookalike, and plenty of women, too. Plenty of muscles and intelligent minds. She got a better idea of their gene pool looking at all of them at once. There were a few brunette Armstrongs here and there, even fewer redheads, but it wasn't entirely blonde. And there were plenty of guests from outside the family as well.

Amelia met many different cousins, uncles, aunts, and their various guests. She ended up losing track after a while, and her mind would wander as Catherine would introduce her as her guest to the family. Her movements didn't really feel like her, mostly mechanical, repeating the same lines over and over after she was introduced, "It's nice to meet you. What do you do for a living? Oh, that's interesting, can you tell me more?" It was how she got anyone to talk, and boy did this family love to talk, to brag about their accomplishments, about their amazing feats in their different lives. She ended up tuning most of it out, just staring ahead as she watched them speak, sparkling pink with pride as they bragged about their lives, taking part in conversations that she didn't need to be involved with. Why was she even here? What did this party ever matter to her? She had other things to be doing. She needed to learn alchemy so she could have a chance at cracking that alchemy exam, and she hadn't studied in days. It wasn't good for her to fall behind when she only had a year. She didn't have a lot of time left, Hughes didn't have a lot of time either. She could still feel the warmth of his blood when she pressed her hands to his chest pulsing between her closed fingers…

"Amelia?" She was pulled out of her thoughts as she looked over at Catherine, who had a concerned expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" She asked, trying to act like herself again. It wasn't like her to just lose herself at a party. She got bored at these, but she knew how to work these people.

"Auntie Ferelda asked you about your alchemy training," Catherine said, gesturing to her aunt in front of them. When had they switched from Cousins Timothy and Thomas to Aunt Ferelda? She was a stout woman, but she held the same regal presence as everyone else in the Armstrong family.

"Yes, I myself trained my young Alberto when it was his time," She said, "Being the eldest daughter of my own generation, it was my duty. How is Alex in his teaching of you?"

"He's great." Amelia answered, "I'm sure he's doing your family proud in taking on a student like me." Catherine's concern didn't seem to disappear.

"Amelia, are you alright?" she asked her, "You don't seem like yourself."

"I'm fine." Amelia brushed it off.

"You've said, 'that's interesting, tell me more' to the last six people." Catherine said, "And you don't really seem to be… well, engaged."

"True, dear." Ferelda commented, "You had the eyes of a dead trout."

"Ferrie," someone nearby swatted at her shoulder for her comment.

"I am simply being honest!" She defended herself to her relative before looking back to Amelia, "But perhaps you should rest, dear. Get some food in you. That's what helps me when I find myself lost in my own thoughts. I often tire at events like these, I feel your pain." Her tone came off so condescending that Amelia couldn't believe her at all.

"That sounds good." Catherine said, starting to lead her away through a sea of fine velvet suits and lace dresses to an ottoman, sitting her down, "I'll get you something to eat from the table, okay?"

"Catherine, I'm  _fine_." Amelia insisted, "You don't have to do this."

"Just wait here." Catherine seemed to ignore what she said, "I'll be right back with something to eat. I'm kind of hungry myself anyway, we can share some food." She smiled an irritatingly perfect smile that radiated kindness before she went off to do as she said she would. She let out a sigh as she was left alone on the ottoman, looking out over the crowd, noticing some measured movements among the bunch. When did they start dancing? And how long had this music been playing? The tempo and the strings reminded her of one of Mozart's pieces. And with the waltz they were performing, it certainly seemed like it was actually Mozart, but the tune was one that was unfamiliar to her, like listening to the end of Mozart's unfinished symphony. Why couldn't they just play Mozart? He was refined enough for a family like this, she was sure. Maybe he would have fit right in with this family. It was a large one, after all, it would be easy to blend in if you really tried. Plenty of cousins and aunts, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters. Hughes had a daughter, didn't he? A little girl, she remembered her pictures of those pigtails and tiny sundresses. She cried at the funeral, she was still too small to understand what was happening then. That had been so heartbreaking to hear her cry out for her father…

"Some party, huh?" She was broken out of her reverie again by someone else, turning to see a dark-haired young man smiling at her, having taken the empty seat next to her, "I hope you don't mind, but I just needed a moment off the dance floor. Is it alright if I sit with you?"

"It's fine," Amelia said. There was a moment of silence between them where she focused on fixing the invisible wrinkles in her dress skirt, not making any move to talk to him. She was fine with the silence, though he decided to break it again.

"So, which branch of the Armstrong family are you from?" He asked her.

"I'm not an Armstrong." Amelia answered, "I'm taking alchemy lessons from Alex Louis Armstrong and I'm staying here until I'm done." She didn't mention that she was technically in his military custody as a criminal. Didn't really seem proper to mention it.

"Oh, I see!" The young man smiled at the news, "Another outsider, huh? Me too. I'm… uh…" He looked through the crowd, "Ah, there! You see that blonde hair with the feather sticking out of it?" He pointed to it, and Amelia followed his finger to see what he was talking about, nodding, "That's Arentia Letitia Armstrong, I'm here as her guest." He held out his hand to her, "I'm Richard Wallace."

"Amelia Seymour. It's nice to meet you." She said, reaching for his outstretched hand and shaking it. "Where are you from?"

"We're from the borders where Amestris meets Aurego to the west." He said, "I run a little bookstore over there, and Miss Arentia is a big reader." He let out a small chuckle, his cheeks turning a bashful pink as he looked over at her, "I think she has a bit of a crush on me. I haven't told her that she's not my type."

"Really? You'd be missing out." Amelia replied, "The Armstrongs are  _loaded_ , you'd be stupid not to marry into that fortune."

Richard shrugged, "Call me a hopeless romantic, but I want to be able to marry for love and all that. I think it's a lot better to spend your life with someone you definitely like over trying to learn to like the person you already married."

Amelia was quiet as she considered his answer. It was idealistic, naive, not that smart, "You're right." She replied, and turned to him with a grin, "You  _are_  hopeless." Now that she was looking at him better, he couldn't have been much older than her. Maybe a year or so?

"That's a little rude," Richard said, his mouth turning into a frown.

"You're the one that called yourself that, not me," Amelia replied.

"Okay, point taken…" Richard sighed a little.

"Why isn't she your type?" Amelia asked, looking back at the woman he had pointed out. She wasn't horrible to look at from this distance - she was no Catherine, but she definitely anything like the other Armstrong sisters either. She almost looked like a plumper version of Catherine, though her hair was a lot shorter, with those odd feathery hair clips. "She doesn't look too bad from here."

"She's got a horrible sense of humor." Richard said, "Every day, it's one pun after another. I understand wordplay, but it just gets old really fast, you know?" He sat up a little straighter and puffed out his chest before speaking in a falsetto voice, "Oh, another shipment came in? Well, you better  _book_  the next one, Richie!" Amelia let out a snort of laughter before hiding it behind her hand as he slumped back into his seat, speaking normally. "It's  _awful_."

"I can see why you don't like her," Amelia replied. "But she's not really unattractive, though."

"Miss Arentia is very pretty, I won't deny that," Richard said, "But a woman's mind is so much more important to me than her figure." He turned back to her, "I like a well-educated woman, but maybe one that makes better jokes than that."

"Well, I've got kind of a joke for you if you're interested." She said, and he nodded, turning to face her fully, "Okay, so these two guys are best friends, right? Known each other for years, lots of deep conversations, whatever. So they decide to go on a camping trip together. They set up everything, have a fire, enjoying their night. After a while, it gets dark, so they go to sleep in their tents. After a few hours, one friend feels the other one poking at him to wake him up and he asks him, 'Look up, what do you see?' and the friend looks up and he sees the moon and the stars so he says, 'The sky,' and his friend asks him, 'What do you think that means?' And the guy takes a minute to consider the question before answering, 'I think it means that we are just a small part of a massive universe, that we are just part of a whole, unknown thing and we have yet to figure out our purpose in that whole, unknown thing and it means that life is our adventure to forge.' And his friend replies, 'No, you idiot. It means someone stole our tent.'"

Richard burst out laughing at the punchline, and Amelia smiled a little, happy that she had made him laugh so hard, but she didn't think it was that funny of a joke. He chuckled and righted himself, smiling at her. "You're easily amused, aren't you?" She asked.

"Only when the joke is funny." He replied with a smile that Amelia could almost take as charming. Giving him another once-over, he wasn't bad-looking. He had dark hair and blue eyes, a little boyish grin on his face, but he seemed… genuine. It wasn't something she was used to, but it was a welcome interaction after all the formal greetings and talking. "So, you, um… you said you were an alchemy student?"

"Yeah, I'm studying under Alex." She said and was about to continue when Catherine came back with a little plate of food.

"Here we are!" She said, handing it over to Amelia, "So we have some grilled scallops with prosciutto, a little bruschetta with mozzarella and favas, and some maple-roasted almonds. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got a little of everything."

"Thanks, Catherine," Amelia said, going for the scallops and starting to nibble at it.

"Oh, Richard!" A voice called out to Amelia's male companion, who grimaced at the sound.

"I was never here!" He said before he hurriedly got up, trying to make it look like he hadn't heard the voice as he walked away, though he tried to make it look like he wasn't going faster than normal. Catherine watched him leave, with her cousin Arentia walking after him.

"Oh, he must be Arentia's guest." She said, watching her cousin link her arm up with his and start pulling him out onto the dance floor, "She's always been one for the lithe and lean kind of man." She took a couple of the almonds, "I never really understood that."

"Not your type?" Amelia asked as she swallowed down her food.

"I prefer a more… sculpted physique, to be honest." Catherine said with a pink blush on her cheeks. "I like the idea of having a strong, powerful man helping me with everything. Someone tall and muscular, who can lift anything and help out around the house." She got a dreamy look on her face as she fantasized about her perfect man.

"But with your family's money, you could just hire someone to do the chores," Amelia said as she reached for one of the almonds. "But I guess you just like muscles."

"What about you?" Catherine asked, "What kind of man do you like?" Amelia paused to think about it. She hadn't thought about it too much, there had been a few celebrity crushes every now and then, but no particular type came to mind, but some fictional characters came to mind.

She shrugged as a response, "I guess whatever man isn't willing to take any bullshit. I haven't thought much about appearances." She munched on her almond as Catherine did, looking out over the shifting crowd of dancers in front of them. She spotted a familiar face among them. "...Lieutenant Ross?" Her eyes went a little wide to see the officer out of uniform, in a rather lovely dress, dancing with the Major. "The fuck is she doing here?"

"Oh, she's Alex's guest." Catherine said, "Apparently, she expressed an interest in coming, so he extended an invitation." She smiled as she looked at her brother and his subordinate dancing, "She's really nice, we've met a few times."

"Huh." Amelia listened as the song came to an end and the Major bowed to his partner, who curtsied back in turn, though she had something of an uncomfortable expression her face as she left and headed over to another part of the ballroom, "Didn't take her for the type to like these kinds of parties."

"We should go and greet her." Catherine said, "Especially if she's someone you know. I've been introducing you all night, now you can introduce me to someone." She smiled at her, "Alex doesn't normally talk about work, so I don't get to know a lot of his co-workers."

"Then I'm sure you guys would like talking together." Amelia replied, swallowing down one more bite before she stood up, "Let's go and get that out of the way." Catherine stood up with her and the pair went over to the woman, who didn't notice them until they were next to her.

"Oh! Miss Seymour." She smiled briefly at Amelia, "Good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too." Amelia greeted her politely, gesturing to Catherine, "This is Catherine Elle Armstrong, she's the Major's younger sister. Catherine, this is Lieutenant Ross."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Catherine said sweetly, and Lieutenant Ross smiled back at her.

"Likewise, I've heard a lot of good things about the major's sister." She said, "I'm Maria Ross."

"I didn't think I would see you at this party." Amelia said, "And you look pretty good." The lieutenant smiled as she looked down at the mint green dress she wore.

"Thank you, and you also look rather lovely." She returned her compliment, "I was a little surprised to hear that a family reunion would have such formal attire, but I guess you shouldn't really expect anything less from the Armstrong family."

"Yeah, no kidding," Amelia said with a small chuckle, though Catherine looked a little confused at the exchange.

"I don't understand, what do you mean?" She asked, "Should we not dress our best in the presence of company?"

"No, no, it's not really a big deal." Amelia said quickly, "It's just not really normal for not-so-rich families." Catherine let out a hum at that answer, but she didn't seem to be upset with that answer. Ross shifted a little awkwardly and Amelia looked back up at her, "I'm a little surprised to see you here. I didn't think you were the kind that would be interested in these formal parties."

"Well, it's a bit of a complicated story…" The lieutenant replied with something of a weary sigh, "But the short version is that the Major invited me, and there was a lot of pressure on me from a couple of people not to turn down the offer, so I came." She looked over at the dance floor where various guests were waltzing together, "I'm a little glad I did, I've never really been to a party like this, so it's a nice experience to have. Plus the food is really nice to eat."

"Oh, I'm so glad you like it." Catherine said with a smile, "My sisters and I worked hard to prepare the menu."

"I didn't know you planned this party, Miss Catherine!" Lieutenant Ross said with wide eyes, but she quickly smiled, "But you did a rather fantastic job with it. You said it was you and your sisters?"

"Yes, my older sisters Strongine was in charge of music, Amue was in charge of the food, I helped both of them with that," Catherine said. As the music shifted to another song, the three women found themselves chatting about Catherine's party planning for a little while until Amelia felt someone grabbing her hand and pulling her away.

"What--?" She looked up to see it was Richard from before, "What are you doing?"

"Please dance with me." He begged her, "This is Miss Arentia's favorite song and she has the worst coordination I've ever seen. I lied and told her I'd promised you a dance." She glanced back over Richard's shoulder to see a blonde woman with crossed arms and a strong pout on her lips as she looked at Richard's back. "Please don't let her step on my feet."

"Alright, I guess…" She said, letting him lead her out on to the dance floor and among the people, "I don't know this song, or the moves."

"It's alright, just follow my lead." Richard smiled at her, and she felt a little bit more at ease as they started moving around the floor. She let him lead, holding his hand as they moved around with the others on the floor. She glanced around to see Catherine and the Lieutenant giggling over something, and she could only guess what as she was dancing with a boy. "So, I guess since we're here," she looked up at him as he spoke, "We never did finish that conversation about you being an alchemist."

"Alchemist in training." Amelia corrected him. "And there isn't really much to talk about. I take some lessons, I learn some stuff, and I become a better alchemist."

"But what kind, though?" Richard asked, "Alchemy is a vast field, what are you going to specialize in?"

"I haven't really thought about it." She said, and it was true. She didn't intend to come up with a specialty since this was mostly just for her not to go to prison, "I'll just keep going until something clicks."

"How long have you been studying?" Richard asked before he twirled her on the floor.

"Um… I guess about a month or so now." She said, "Not too long."

"I suppose you really are just starting." He moved along the dance floor with her. Amelia wondered for a moment how she hadn't stepped on his feet yet. Was this talking helping to make sure she didn't, "I've never been able to wrap my head around the science, but it's practical uses are so fascinating. I have a cousin who's a bio-alchemist, he's working to become a proper doctor, but the alchemy knowledge definitely gives him an edge."

"I'm sure it does." Amelia didn't really care that much about his cousin.

Seeming to sense her disinterest, Richard changed the subject, "Do you read much, Miss Amelia?"

"A little bit." She said, "I've actually just gotten into this Golden Rose saga."

"That's one of our best sellers." Richard said, "I've read a little of the first book, but haven't found the time to finish on top of everything else I'm reading. It's quite the love story."

"Oh, you'll really like it." Amelia said, a little glad to talk about the book, "The first book does a great job with developing their characters, but it also introduces a lot of people you don't see until the second or third book, they make great antagonists to the story."

"Really? Like who?" Richard asked.

"Well, you remember that assistant, Ivan? He's actually going to be really influential in the plot of the second book…" Amelia went into more detail and kept dancing with Richard through the song.

In another part of the room, the Major was watching as Amelia danced with an unfamiliar face, turning to one of the butlers nearby, "Williams," The man perked up at the sound of his name being called, "Can you see whose guest that is dancing with Amelia?" He pointed to the dark-haired boy.

"Right away, sir." The man said before excusing himself from his hors d'oeuvres serving duties to investigate. Armstrong stood up and looked back at his student as she seemed to enjoy chatting with him, but something about that boy didn't entirely sit right with the Major. He seemed to be putting on a facade of happiness or interest with Amelia. He didn't like it at all as he watched the two dancing through the song. He looked to see who was with him and could see his cousin Arentia giving Amelia the stink eye as she danced with that boy, and soon enough he found out that she had brought that boy as her guest - apparently she had her eye on him.

Soon enough, the song ended and Amelia and Richard parted as he went back to soothe Arentia before she decided to confront Amelia over that. She went back to Catherine and the Lieutenant, who talked a while longer before they were pulled away for some other relatives. Somehow, they made it over to the Major and his father as they talked over a few things, and she found her mind drifting like before as she tuned them out and gave her usual programmed responses to fill the silence.

Who really cared about how things were progressing in Central? Unless anyone else happened to escape from prison like Isaac had, or if Scar found his way back here, but he clearly hadn't. What does it matter if the soldiers were kept busy with whatever was bothering the city? The real problem was that group of people with the ouroboros tattoos, the ones that had killed Hughes. She had spent so long chasing down that blood trail, finding him in that phone booth, still able to feel his blood between her fingers as she tried to revive him. Why couldn't she have done more? She should have learned to do proper CPR, or at least dress his wound, that would have made a difference wouldn't it? She should have asked to learn this stuff. Surely alchemy could have helped, right? There must be a way to manipulate the chemicals of the body so that she pushed the bullet out and stopped the bleeding. It's bio-alchemy, though… She had that stripped from her usual lessons. Maybe if she hadn't been so stubborn about chimeras, she might have learned enough to save him, save his family the grief of having to hold a funeral for him, save his daughter the problems of growing up without a father.

"--on't you, Amelia?" She looked up when her name was called, seeing Strongine smiling down at her, "I think it would be a fun little way to start off the evening."

"Yeah, I suppose." She said, giving her programmed response to whatever it was that Strongine was talking about.

"Wonderful!" She said, clapping her hands and reaching for her own, "Then let's get you up on stage!" She pulled her through the crowd, "Amue, hurry!" She could hear Strongine's identical sister trailing behind them as she was pulled along with Strongine.

"Wait, what?" Amelia suddenly wished she had been listening to that conversation, she had no idea what she just agreed to. She soon found herself up on the stage where the musicians were now packing up their instruments, with Amue joining her as Strongine went for a microphone and turned it on to get everyone's attention.

"Good evening, everyone!" She called out to her family, "We are thrilled to be the hosts of the Armstrong family reunion here in Central! We are so pleased to meet with all of you, and hear tales of all your illustrious accomplishments from the last five years." The crowd applauded her and she smiled, letting them cheer themselves on before she continued, "As the hosts, we do our best to provide the entertainment you like, so we would like to show the progress with Amue Armstrong leading the evening singing an original piece to accompany the music of our young guest Amelia Seymour." She gestured to the two of them. Amelia paled a little at her words, not realizing until then that she had agreed to a piano performance that she had specifically told them she  _didn't_ want to do. But if she told them it was a misunderstanding, would they believe her? As Amue came over, pushing Amelia over to the piano keys, she sat her down, "Just play that Green Sleeves song you did before." She said to her quietly, "Amue and I composed some lyrics to go with it." She stepped away, handing the microphone over to her sister so she could sing for the crowd.

Amelia was left a little stunned, with Amue looking back at her expectantly. She looked down at the keys, putting her fingers to them. She never wanted to do this, she can't believe she let herself just fall through like that. She stared down at the white keys, trying to remember the starting tune - it wasn't like it was hard, it was just Greensleeves. She knew that song perfectly at this point - But she didn't want to do this, she never wanted to perform for their family. It was like they were just showing her off, the perfect little student who knew piano, was ever so elegant and perfect just like her mother always wanted. She looked down at her hands as they rested on the keys, hearing some murmurs rising up from the crowd, probably asking why she wasn't playing yet or why the song hadn't started yet. She didn't care, what did it matter anymore? It was just a damn piano and learning this stuff wasn't her own anymore, not now, not when she was made to perform like this. After all that she did, everything she learned, she had a man's life in her hands and she couldn't do a damn thing for him! She couldn't stop the bleeding from his wound, she couldn't keep his heart beating, she couldn't fix his body with alchemy so the bullet would get out. She had to attend his funeral because she couldn't do anything! A man was dead because she was so horribly useless and stubborn! She should have learned bio-alchemy! Why did she have to be such a stubborn brat?!

"Amelia," She looked up to see Amue had approached her, "Dear, what's wrong?"

"What do you-?" She heard how her voice croaked and shook. She suddenly realized she had started crying somewhere in those swirling thoughts. Her body shook and she had started sobbing. She couldn't get out an apology for her behavior as Amue tried to comfort her because she couldn't control herself anymore. She kept wiping at her eyes but the tears wouldn't stop flowing. "Amelia, I'm sorry, we didn't think it was going to be such a sudden show… It's alright, dear." She could hear the concerned murmurs from the crowd. Eventually, someone else came up on stage and she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Here, Amelia." Alex gently helped her up and off the stage. She went past a guilt-stricken Strongine who whispered an apology to her as Alex took her out of the ballroom. Strongine went up on stage, saying that she would be performing instead, something to save the night as Amelia was out of the picture now.

She was taken into a parlor room that was empty of people and she was sat down on the couch. She was sobbing too much to get any words out to explain why she was acting like this, or to apologize for any of it. Armstrong simply sat beside her, rubbing her back gently, "You'll be alright, Amelia. You can get it out here, let it go." He soothed her, and Amelia's body was wracked with sobs for a while longer. She couldn't help it anymore, her thoughts kept going back to Hughes and that night, how she had been so useless in helping him, how she had ruined the lives of his wife and his daughter and anyone that knew him because she couldn't help him.

After about ten minutes of just pure crying, she managed to calm down and take a few deep breaths. She still sniffled, and she could feel tears threatening to push through, but she forced herself to calm down, "I'm sorry…" She said once she had her voice back. Armstrong offered her a handkerchief and she took it, using it to wipe her eyes clean.

"What was it that had you so upset?" Armstrong asked her, "I didn't think you had such bad stage fright."

"No, it's not that…" Amelia swallowed the lump in her throat, she wasn't going to start crying again, "It's just… it's my fault." Armstrong looked at her confusedly, "I couldn't… I couldn't help him. I was  _right there_  and I couldn't do anything…!" Her voice shook and the tears started flowing again, she put the handkerchief up to her eyes to try and rid herself of them. She felt Armstrong grabbing her shoulders tightly, and she looked up to see the man had moved in front of her, giving her an intense look with his blue eyes.

"Amelia, you cannot blame yourself for what happened with Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." He said firmly, "You were not the one that shot the gun, you were not the one that stabbed him. You have never been at fault. You cannot blame yourself for the actions of others like this." He shook her, "You  _must_  understand that. This was never your fault. You did all that you could and no one could ask more of you. Do you understand?" Amelia was left speechless at the intensity of his words. Taking her silence as a sign that he overreacted, he released her shoulders from his hands, "I apologize if my tone was too strong, but I do not want you to carry around this guilt when you did nothing wrong." He moved to sit beside her, "That kind of guilt will rest on your shoulders and weigh you down for the rest of your life." She had a feeling he had experience with that kind of guilt. She remembered that night she snuck into his room, the pained look on his face when he grabbed her hand and begged for forgiveness.

She didn't say anything as she wiped at her cheeks and her eyes. She felt like she was back to herself again. "I know you're right." She said softly, "I just can't help thinking that I should have been able to do more… I don't know proper CPR, so I couldn't do that… and I couldn't really do anything." She looked down at her hands, "I know I'm not responsible for his death, but… I keep thinking about the "What if"s. What if I knew bio-alchemy and sealed up his wounds? What if I was able to keep his heart pumping when the medics arrived?"

"We cannot change the past, as much as we wish that we could." Armstrong said, "We are not responsible for things held outside of our control, and you should not feel as though you were responsible for his death." He put his hand on her back again, "I do not want you to carry such a weight with you when you were not responsible." She nodded silently, knowing he was right, but she still couldn't help but feel bad. "If you like, we can make some changes to your lessons." She looked up at him, "We could start learning bio-alchemy so that you can learn more about the human body to heal it if necessary." She was quiet as she nodded again.

"I'd like that." She said softly. Armstrong nodded.

"Then we'll start with it first thing." He assured her. Amelia could hear the sound of an aria coming through the door - undoubtedly it was Amue's singing as Strongine played to accompany her. "It seems the entertainment has started without you."

"I didn't really want to do it anyway." She said, sniffling a little. "I didn't really understand what I was agreeing to, then." She let out a dry chuckle.

"I thought you seemed a little out of it." Armstrong commented, and he gave her a small smile, "Well, you don't need to worry about it for now. We can go back to the party later if you wish."

"I don't think I want to go back at all…" Amelia said, and Armstrong nodded.

"Then we won't." He said.

"What about your family?" She looked up at him, "It's your reunion, after all."

"Yes, but there will be another one." He replied, "You are my priority at this time." She was a little touched by that, knowing that he was willing to help her when she wasn't well.

The parlor door opened and the two turned to see Richard poking his head through, "Ah, sorry, I don't mean to interrupt." He said hesitantly, "I just wanted to check and see if she was okay…" He looked over at Amelia, who wiped her cheeks clean of dried salt and tears as she stood up from the couch where she sat.

"Yes, I'm fine now." She said, coming over to him, "But I just… got a little overwhelmed at the party. I'm not going back."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Richard looked away sheepishly, "But um… Well, if this is going to be the last I see of you… I was actually wondering if I could write to you sometime?" He had a little pink splashed on his cheeks as he reached one hand to scratch at the back of his head, "I, um, I really enjoyed our talk, so if it's alright with you, I'd like to keep in touch… We only have the one phone in town and it's a little inconvenient that way…"

"I would like that." Amelia said, smiling at him, "I liked our talks, too. Make sure to tell me all about Arentia and her craziness in your store." Richard beamed and nodded.

"Of course! It makes for the best stories." He said with a chuckle before he glanced back at the open door, "Well, um, I should go make sure she isn't bothering anyone else. Arentia, I mean."

"Yeah, write me about what happens," Amelia said, letting him leave and she went back to the Major. "I guess I made a friend."

"It seems that you did." He said, putting aside his feelings on the boy for the moment as he had her come back. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." She said with a sigh, "Crying takes a lot out of you."

"And makes you all the stronger for it," Armstrong said.

She let out a small laugh, "Is that why you always end up crying over the little things?"

"I feel no shame in showing my feelings in such a way," Armstrong said, puffing out his chest as he showed pride in his emotions. Amelia only smiled up at him, letting out another sigh as she sat back on the couch.

"I've never liked parties like this." She said to him, "My parents used to have them all the time and they would make me go. I wouldn't know anyone, and everyone they introduced me to I would end up hating one way or another." Armstrong let her speak, "But I'd end up going, and let them talk just so I don't seem rude." She let a beat of silence pass between them, but it wasn't anything she was uncomfortable with. "I've always hated them for making me do something like that." For a moment, she let down her barriers for a while, just the two of them. She felt as if she could really trust him now, that he really did want to look after her and make sure that all was well. Nothing was said in that time, just the two of them in a comfortable silence as they let the reunion go on in the other room.

After a few minutes had passed, Amelia stood up, "Do you mind taking me to my room? I think I just want to go to bed after today."

"Of course." Armstrong stood up with her and escorted her through the halls to the room she had been given. "I'll lock the doors behind you for the night. You're sure you're alright going to bed this early?" It was only about 9 or so.

"Yeah, I'm tired." She said, "And if I can't sleep, I'll find a book or something." Armstrong nodded and that was the last words they spoke that night as he closed the doors behind her, the lock clicking in place so she would be in there until someone came to unlock it in the morning.

Amelia went through her routine for bed, slipping under the covers and laying there. After everything that she had experienced over the last couple of days, she couldn't help but feel tired. Maybe everything just came to a head when she had to go up on that stage… all her stress and other things.  _It felt good to talk to Armstrong about it, though._  She thought to herself.  _I think he gets it a little bit more than anyone else around here._  Still, she had a lot of things to do, come tomorrow morning. Including starting back on those alchemy lessons.

* * *

Apologies on how long it took to update. This kind of emotional upheaval with Amelia is not easy to write. 


End file.
